U.S. consulate in Berlin partially evacuated over suspicious deliverySeptember 13, 2012 - 16:59 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - German emergency services evacuated the visa section of the United States consulate in Berlin on Thursday, Sept 13, after an employee felt difficulty breathing when opening a passport handed to her by a visitor, police said. According to Reuters, the visitor was believed to be an Albanian man who said he was applying for a U.S. visa, said police, adding that workers at the consulate later returned to their posts. The alarm come amid attacks on U.S. embassy and consulate buildings across the Middle East. Television footage showed investigators in chemical protection suits and masks at the Berlin consulate, which is in the southwest of the city, separate from the main embassy building in central Berlin. "Shortly before 11 this morning a man came to the consulate and handed over his passport, saying he wanted a visa," Berlin police spokesman Stefan Redlich said. "When the employee opened the passport she experienced breathing difficulties and a metallic taste in her mouth ... At the moment investigators are checking whether there was a suspicious substance." A spokesman for the Berlin fire service said three women employees had received treatment for breathing difficulties. Demonstrators attacked the U.S. embassies in Yemen and Egypt on Thursday in protest over a film they consider blasphemous to Islam, and American warships headed to Libya after the death of the U.S. ambassador there in related violence earlier in the week. Islamist gunmen had staged a military-style assault on the U.S. consulate and a safe house refuge in Benghazi, eastern Libya. The U.S. ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans died in the assault, carried out with guns, mortars and grenades. Top stories Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev arrived in Moscow on April 22 to hold talks with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. Authorities said a total of 192 Azerbaijani troops were killed and 511 were wounded during Azerbaijan’s offensive. In 2023, the Azerbaijani government will increase the country’s defense budget by more than 1.1 billion manats ($650 million). The bill, published on Monday, is designed to "eliminate the shortcomings of an unreasonably broad interpretation of the key concept of "compatriot". Partner news | Police try to impede Armenian Church head’s access to war memorial Police tried to stop the supreme head of the Armenian Apostolic Church, Catholicos Karekin II, from visiting a war memorial. Greece says ready to help as Armenia fights flooding consequences Greece is ready to assist Armenia in combatting the consequences of deadly floods in the country’s north. “He will leave”: Protest leader no longer demands meeting with Pashinyan Archbishop Bagrat Galstanyan no longer demands a meeting with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan. Lemkin Institute petition seeks release of Armenians in Azerbaijan The Lemkin Institute is deeply concerned about the continued illegal detention of political prisoners from Karabakh in Azerbaijan. |