During the State Department briefing today, Marie Hart was asked about the rumor that U.S. embassies would be closed on Sunday. Hart was vague when pressed on the issue. She said they’d provide more information when it’s available.
The closings are specifically for August 4, but they could be extended.
I realize this is a developing thing, but you’d think the State Department would have been better prepared. She couldn’t (wouldn’t) divulge which embassies were affected or what regions were. Several times throughout the briefing Harf said, “I don’t have that detail in front of me” in response to specific questions.
One reporter asked her about notifying Americans of the closings. Here’s the transcript of that conversation:
QUESTION: And – yeah, but under the no double standard rule, are you not obliged to tell the American public of steps – specific steps that you’re taking to protect your own officials at embassies?
MS. HARF: Yes, and if that applies in this case, those steps will, of course, be taken.
QUESTION: Why wouldn’t it apply in this case?
MS. HARF: I don’t have that detail in front of me. I know that was a discussion as I came down here about whether it would. But I am assuming it does. Again, and I’ll get you updates as I get them. But if it does, we would, of course, take the necessary steps.
QUESTION: Just because, presumably, if a U.S. citizen needs to go to an embassy and you’re not willing to disclose that the embassy is closed, and then they show up and the embassy blows up —
MS. HARF: Right, and of course, we would —
QUESTION: — that doesn’t seem very fair.
MS. HARF: Well, of course, we will – are working to disclose all of the embassies to the people that either would be coming there or that have meetings there. That process will be ongoing throughout the rest of today. As you know, Sunday in many places is not a workday to begin with. In some places, of course, it is. So as I get more information, I’m happy to pass it along.
It’s important to note that some countries in the Middle East do work on Sunday.
NBC News reported that the the closings were, in fact, located in the Middle East and North Africa. The threat is from al-Qaeda and tied to Ramadan, the Muslim month of fasting. The news agency cites an unnamed “senior State Department official” as the source.
The Department of Homeland Security has not issued an alert.
There’s no State Department briefings on Fridays during the month of August, so I’m not sure how we’ll learn about what’s really going on for Sunday. We’ll just have to watch the news and hope Harf passes the media answers to the questions before then.
8/2/13 Update: I’ve learned from a reliable source that U.S. embassies located in these countries are included in the Sunday closings.
- Afghanistan
- Algeria
- Bahrain
- Bangladesh
- Dhabi
- Egypt
- Iraq
- Israel
- Jordan
- Kuwait
- Libya
- Mauritania
- Niger
- Oman
- Qatar
- Saudi Arabia
- Sudan
- UAE
- Yemen