Citing security concerns, the United States closed embassies April 6 in Ecuador, Uruguay and Paraguay, and its consulate in Guayaquil, Ecuador. Though the State Department offered no specific reason for the closures, speculation in the media is that the closures are related to the arrest April 5 of five suspected members of Osama bin Laden's alleged terrorist network in Milan. The five allegedly supplied logistic support to a network of suspected terrorists in France, Germany, Belgium and the United Kingdom. They were allegedly involved in foiled plots to attack Strasbourg, France, last December and the U.S. embassy in Rome in January. But bin Laden is not known to have an extensive network in Latin America. Furthermore, if the militants arrested in Italy were offering logistics support to European operations, it is unlikely they were also supporting a Latin American operation.