US Warns Americans On Travel To Egypt, Moves To Draw Down Embassy Presence Amid Unrest
Source: Associated Press
WASHINGTON The Obama administration on Friday warned Americans against all but essential travel to Egypt and moved to reduce the official U.S. presence in the country amid fears of widespread unrest.
Just hours after Egyptian officials said an American had been killed in clashes between government supporters and opponents in the city of Alexandria, the State Department said Americans should defer nonessential travel to Egypt, citing the uncertain security situation. It also said it would allow some nonessential staff and the families of personnel at the U.S. Embassy in Cairo to leave Egypt until conditions improve.
"Political unrest, which intensified prior to the constitutional referendum in December 2012 and the anniversary in 2013 of Egypt's 25th January Revolution, is likely to continue in the near future due to unrest focused on the first anniversary of the president's assumption of office," it said. "Demonstrations have, on occasion, degenerated into violent clashes between police and protesters, resulting in deaths, injuries and extensive property damage."
--CLIP
That move doesn't require anyone to depart but encourages them to go by allowing them to do so at government expense. Officials said dependents and nonessential staff could be ordered to leave if the situation deteriorates.
Read more: http://www.tribtown.com/view/story/2da2414603d4440387362bb1dc41380c/US--US-Egypt
dtom67
(634 posts)" just lookin' for a new War".....
Mosby
(16,318 posts)An American Jewish college student, Andrew Driscoll Pochter, 21, a native of Chevy Chase, Maryland, was killed in Alexandria, Egypt on Friday as he watched clashes between supporters and opponents of the countrys Islamist president, it was confirmed Saturday.
Pochter, one of three people killed in Fridays clashes, was stabbed to death by a protester, his family said.
-snip-
Our beloved 21-year-old son and brother Andrew Driscoll Pochter went to Alexandria for the summer, to teach English to 7- and 8-year-old Egyptian children and to improve his Arabic. He was looking forward to returning to Kenyon College for his junior year and to spending his spring semester in Jordan, Pochters parents told CNN.
As we understand it, he was witnessing the protest as a bystander and was stabbed by a protester. He went to Egypt because he cared profoundly about the Middle East, and he planned to live and work there in the pursuit of peace and understanding. Andrew was a wonderful young man looking for new experiences in the world and finding ways to share his talents while he learned. Andrew cared deeply about his family and his friends. We wont have any further comment and ask for privacy now at this difficult time for the family.
Marcela Colmenares, a Venezuelan scholar at Kenyon College who was a friend of Pochters, paid tribute to him in her blog Saturday, saying he exemplified the difference between a talker and a doer.
http://www.timesofisrael.com/us-citizen-killed-in-egypt-identified-as-jewish-college-student/