U.S., Norway embassies close, citing security

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia -- The United States and Norway closed their embassies in the capital of Ethiopia on Wednesday amid heightened fears of terrorism for both nations.

Police set up a roadblock on the street that passes the heavily fortified U.S. Embassy compound on the outskirts of Addis Ababa and were stopping and checking all vehicles.

"For security reasons, we have decided to temporarily shut down for three days," U.S. Embassy spokesman Jeremy Carper said.

Carper did not say why the embassy was closing, and officials at Norway's embassy were not immediately available for comment.

The U.S. State Department has said there is a credible threat of terrorist attacks throughout East Africa.

The Arab satellite station Al-Jazeera aired an audio tape on May 21 purportedly by Ayman al-Zawahri, top lieutenant of al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden, urging attacks on the United States, Britain, Australia and Norway.

It was not clear why Norway, which did not support the war in Iraq, was included on the list. Some believe the intended target was actually Denmark, a Scandinavian neighbor to the south that gave full backing to the war effort -- as did Ethiopia, one of the few African nations to do so.

In neighboring Kenya, the U.S. Embassy in the capital Nairobi issued a statement saying it would be closed Thursday "as a precaution, based on the heightened security situation."

The U.S. Embassy in Kenya has closed half a dozen times since heightened security alerts were issued for the region in mid-May. Simultaneous car bombings of the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania carried out by members of Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida network killed 231 people on Aug. 7, 1998.