U.S. Diplomats in Jordan, Sudan Advised to Leave

The State Department today added Sudan and Jordan to a list of six other Middle East and African countries where Americans connected to U.S. embassies are being ordered home or permitted to return voluntarily as a result of “unstable conditions” related to the Persian Gulf.

A U.S. official said these conditions have intensified following the decision of the U.N. Security Council to set a Jan. 15 deadline for Iraqi troops to withdraw from Kuwait.

All non-essential personnel and dependents of U.S. government personnel are being asked to leave Jordan and Sudan “well before the Jan. 15 deadline,” the announcement said. The State Department also recommended that U.S. citizens defer travel to the two countries.

The decisions concerning the six other countries had been announced earlier. Those countries are Yemen, Mauritania, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Saudi Arabia’s Eastern province.

There has been strong pro-Iraqi sentiment in both Jordan and Sudan.

The statement indicates concern over the possibility that pro-Iraqi sentiment in the eight countries could be directed at U.S. diplomatic offices. Large anti-American demonstrations have taken place in the Sudan and Jordan.