Interpol suspects Al-Qaeda in string of recent jailbreaks

The global police agency Interpol on Saturday said it suspected Al-Qaeda was involved in recent jailbreaks across nine countries, including Iraq, Libya and Pakistan.

Interpol said in a statement that the jailbreaks "led to the escape of hundreds of terrorists and other criminals" in the past month alone and issued a security alert.

It has also asked its 190 member countries to help "determine whether any of these recent events are coordinated and linked" and to immediately convey any intelligence which could help prevent another attack.

The Interpol alert comes the day after the United States issued a worldwide travel warning and ordered that its embassies across the Islamic world be temporarily closed due to unspecified plans by Al-Qaeda to strike US interests in the Middle East or North Africa in August.

Germany and Britain have also announced that their embassies in Yemen would be closed on Sunday and Monday for security reasons.

Interpol, based in the central eastern city of France, noted that August is the anniversary of attacks in India, Russia and Indonesia.

This week also marks the 15th anniversary of the US embassy bombings in the Kenyan capital Nairobi and Dar es Salaam in Tanzania, that killed more than 200 mostly African citizens and injured thousands.