|
In the Philippines, diplomats had asked for additional police personnel and patrols for the seaside compound that houses the U.S. Embassy, as well as a nearby residential complex and the consulate in the central city of Cebu, ahead of the anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in the U.S. Officials said the heightened security would be maintained indefinitely following the attack in Libya. Traffic was busy as usual Thursday on a Manila boulevard in front of the embassy's main entrance. A police pickup truck with a machine gun mounted on the back was parked under a tree, and Philippine coast guard vessels patrolled Manila Bay around the embassy. Police patrols were also intensified in other U.S. facilities, including the American cemetery in the Philippine capital. "President Obama yesterday directed an increase in security at diplomatic posts around the world, and this includes our embassy here in Manila," said embassy spokeswoman Tina Malone. Americans flags were lowered at half-staff as U.S. Ambassador Harry K. Thomas Jr. mourned the loss of the American diplomats in Libya. "We will do our best to honor and carry forward their memory and their service," he said in a statement. In Nigeria, a nation of more than 160 million people largely split between a Muslim north and a Christian south, the U.S. Embassy issued a warning saying that "extremists may attempt to target U.S citizens and other Westerners." Previous violence by a radical Islamist sect known as Boko Haram saw the embassy ban travel for its staff to the north for much of this year. The sect is blamed for killing more than 670 people this year alone, according to an Associated Press count. However, Nigeria has remained largely quiet, with only one small protest over the video happening in the central Nigerian city of Jos, according to local media reports. Still, Nigeria's federal police force has received orders to provide additional security to foreign embassies.
[Associated
Press;
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
News | Sports | Business | Rural Review | Teaching & Learning | Home and Family | Tourism | Obituaries
Community |
Perspectives
|
Law & Courts |
Leisure Time
|
Spiritual Life |
Health & Fitness |
Teen Scene
Calendar
|
Letters to the Editor