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 Canada's Foreign Minister John Baird and Canadian Ambassador to Libya Sandra McCardell look at a bullet hole in the window of the Canadian embassy in Tripoli, October 11, 2011. The embassy was reopened today. (REUTERS/Sean Kilpatrick/Pool) |
Canadian embassies in Egypt and Libya reopened Monday, but the embassy in Sudan remained closed amid fears of continued violence and attacks against Western interests abroad.
"The security situation in parts of Sudan is highly unstable due to high levels of armed conflict and violent crime," Canada's foreign affairs department said.
"There is a threat from terrorism and kidnapping throughout Sudan. Canadians are strongly advised to maintain a heightened level of vigilance, including in their neighbourhoods and places of work."
Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans were killed in an attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya, on Sept. 11.
Anti-U.S. protests, many of them violent, have continued across the Middle East and other Muslim countries, prompting the closure of Canadian diplomatic missions in Cairo, Tripoli and the Tunisian capital of Tunis in recent days. All have since reopened.
Canadian foreign affairs officials continue to monitor events closely in Khartoum, Sudan.
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"We continue to urge for calm around the world, and completely reject the use of violence during this tumultuous time," said Rick Roth, press secretary for Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird.
An anti-Islam film is being blamed for the uproar, though some officials claim the attack on the U.S. Embassy in Benghazi was premeditated rather than a spontaneous reaction to the film.
The amateur video, posted online under several titles including "Innocence of Muslims," mocks the Prophet Mohammed and portrays him as a womanizer and a fool.
The identity of the person responsible for the film remains murky, but it is believed to have originated in the U.S.
Nakoula Basseley Nakoula, 55, who has denied involvement in the making of the film, was taken in for questioning by police in California Saturday and released after about 30 minutes.
New protests against the U.S. erupted Monday in Jakarta, Indonesia, and in Pakistan.
— with files from Reuters