US, British consulates re-open
2005-06-20 13:15
Lagos - The United States (US) and Britain reopened their consulates in Lagos on Monday three days after they were closed because of what the US State Department dubbed a "specific and credible" terror threat.
US embassy spokesperson Rudolph Stewart said the large waterfront complex in the heart of Nigeria's biggest city had opened and would start providing full consular services from Tuesday.
The spokesperson would not give any details of the "ongoing investigation" into the perceived threat but said there would be a press briefing on Tuesday.
A British spokesperson said his government's deputy high commission had been closed in response to US concerns last week and had now also reopened.
On Friday, US state department deputy spokesperson Adam Ereli confirmed the perceived threat was terror-related and said "it was specific and credible enough that we believed it was necessary and prudent to close the consulate".
Nigeria is Africa's most populous country and a major oil supplier. The closures helped push crude oil futures to all-time record highs on Friday.
Around a half of its 130-million-strong population are Muslims but, while ethnic and sectarian clashes are relatively common, it has never seen militant Islamic attacks on foreign targets.
- AFP