U.S. CLOSES ITS EMBASSY AND CONSULATES IN PAKISTAN

A member of Pakistan's Elite Police Force stands guard in front of the U.S. consulate in Karachi on Monday.

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - The U.S. on Tuesday closed its embassy and consulates in Pakistan to the general public until further notice, a day after American special forces killed al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden in a daring raid near the garrison city of Abbottabad.
“The U.S. Embassy in Islamabad and the Consulates in Peshawar, Lahore and Karachi are closed for routine business to the general public until further notice,” Embassy spokesman Alberto Rodriguez said. Routine business includes matters like the issuance of visas.

U.S. Ambassador Anne W. Patterson speaking at the U.S. Independence Day celebration at the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad.
Pakistan Federal Minister for Defense Ahmad Mukhtar took part in the ceremony as chief guest.
The Embassy and Consulates will remain open for “other business and for emergency American citizen services”, he said.

The move came amid fears of reprisals by the Pakistani Taliban and al-Qaeda for the killing of bin Laden, who was hiding out in a compound located a few hundred metres from the Pakistan Military Academy.

Source: Agency