Special to WorldTribune.com

CAIRO — The United States has decided to keep government staffers and diplomats in Egypt.

The State Department said it halted the departure of U.S. personnel over nearly the last four months.

The State Department urged Americans not to visit Egypt, which does not have a U.S. ambassador.

“Based on an assessment of the security situation in Egypt, the Department of State lifted the ordered departure status for U.S. embassy personnel on November 6, 2013,” the State Department said.

In a statement on Feb. 21, the State Department also ended the departure of U.S. diplomats and staffers from the consul-general office in Alexandria. The departure status was lifted amid a security upgrade of the consulate in the Mediterranean city.

“The State Department lifted ordered departure status for U.S. consulate-general Alexandria on December 16, 2013,” the State Department said. “However, consulate-general personnel are based out of the U.S. embassy in Cairo while required facility security upgrades are made.”

The alert, meant to expire on May 22, was issued after months of
relative quiet at U.S. diplomatic installations in Egypt. In September 2012,
the U.S. embassy was stormed by hundreds of Islamists during the
commemoration of Al Qaida’s suicide attacks on New York and Washington 11
years earlier. The State Department said most tourist centers, including
those in Sinai, “remain calm.”

“Political unrest, which intensified after the July 2013 change of
government, is likely to continue in the near future,” the State Department
said. “Because of the proximity of the U.S. embassy to Tahrir Square and
other demonstration locations in Cairo, the U.S. embassy has sometimes been
closed to the public on short notice due to violent protests.”

  As security improves, Cairo embassy, Tahrir Square, U.S. State Department, U.S. stops exits of embassy personnel in Egypt