UK, Canada, Australia to reopen embassies in Amman

By ASSOCIATED PRESS
The British and Canadian embassies in the Jordanian capital were set to reopen on Sunday, and the Australian Embassy was to resume business Monday after a weeklong closure due to terror threats, according to their Foreign Ministry officials. However, the embassies cautioned their citizens that there was still a "high threat" of terror attacks in Jordan. Britain had closed it embassy in Amman a week ago and had advised its nationals that "terrorists may be in the final stages of planning attacks against Westerners and places frequented by Westerners." The move prompted the Canadian and Australian embassies to follow suit. Jordan maintained that its security services have analyzed available information and the embassy closures were "unwarranted." Despite that, it beefed up security around the embassies. The closures came two months after triple suicide bomb attacks on Western-based hotels in Amman killed 63 people, including the three bombers. Al-Qaida in Iraq, led by Jordanian terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, claimed responsibility for the attacks.