October 30, 2007 - 13:22 AMT
Major terrorist acts prevented nearby of U.S. and British Embassies in Baku
A series of major terrorist acts was prevented nearby Embassies and state institutions in the Azerbaijani capital. The Azeri Ministry of National Security reported to have detained four terrorists and killed one. The other members of the gang are being searched.

The terrorists' main target was the U.S. Embassy.

Diplomatic representations of other states fear that the terrorist threat still exists.

The British Embassy suspended activities. The U.S. Embassy closed the consular department, ORT reports.

"The U.S. Embassy still closed to the public. I expect they'll probably today and tomorrow have limited operations, but the Embassy took what they believe were appropriate steps in light of threat information, working very closely with the government of Azerbaijan. I expect that we'll be up and running with normal operations in the not-too-distant future," said Mr Sean McCormack, a Spokesman for the U.S. Department of State.

"There was some specific and credible threat information concerning the Embassy and plans by militants to in some way do harm to the individuals in or around the U.S. Embassy there. But we have worked very well with the Government of Azerbaijan. Now, I think that they have ongoing law enforcement operations designed to address the source of the threat," he said.

"I would expect today and tomorrow that there would be limited operations. Today, the Embassy is closed to the public. It's likely that it'll be closed to the public again tomorrow. But I would expect in the coming days, in the not-too-distant-future, that it will be back up and running with normal operations," Mr McCormack said.