US embassy in Algiers informed of al Qaeda threat

The United States said Friday that its embassy in Algiers was informed about a threat apparently emanating from al Qaeda, and it alerted potential targets to the threat. "The US embassy in Algiers received threat information," the State Department said when asked about a newspaper report that al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) planned attacks in North Africa.
Both the embassy and the State Department's Overseas Security Advisory Council then "acted quickly to alert potential targets to the threat," it said in a statement. The Algerian newspaper El Khabar, citing a message from US security services, said AQIM prepared to carry out missile attacks against foreign oil firms in the Sahel and in the North Africa region.
The electronic message was received by US embassies in the region, El Khabar reported Thursday. The newspaper referred to information "proving that AQIM possessed a large number of Sam 5 and Sam 7 missiles with which it prepared to attack planes transporting staff from foreign firms, particularly British and American." The State Department did not say that such firms were targeted.