Beirut building housing Al Jazeera, Norway Embassy evacuated after threats

Norway evacuated its embassy in Beirut on Thursday after the building housing it and also housing offices of the Al Jazeera news network received a bomb threat.

"We can confirm that the building where the Norwegian embassy in Beirut is located has received a bomb threat today," Norway's foreign ministry spokeswoman Ragnhild Haland Simenstad told AFP in a written statement. The small number of staff still working there had been evacuated.

"The acts of war in Lebanon make the security situation very unpredictable and tense. This threat is another example of that," Simenstad said.

"The Foreign Ministry is continuously assessing the situation, including the safety of our colleagues who work in Beirut. The embassy has already implemented measures, as we have routines for in situations like this."

Mazen Ibrahim, Al Jazeera's Lebanon bureau chief, said the building’s administration received three calls telling everyone to leave the building, which he said houses the embassies of Norway and Azerbaijan, as well as dozens of offices. He said it was unclear who called in the warning.

Israel has ordered the evacuation of several buildings, as well as entire cities, towns and villages, as it strikes what it says are targets linked to Hezbollah.

There have also been several instances of evacuation warning calls and text messages that turned out to be bogus, which Lebanese security agencies say they are investigating.

Israel has struck central Beirut on four occasions and all came without warnings.