Cairo — The British Embassy in Cairo said Sunday that it had temporarily closed its main building after Egyptian authorities removed concrete security barriers from around the compound's exterior perimeter. The barriers had been there for decades as a security measure.

"The main Embassy building is temporarily closed while we review the impact of works undertaken by the Egyptian authorities in the vicinity," a U.K. Foreign Office spokesperson told CBS News in a statement on Monday, noting that the embassy remained in operation and only the primary building was closed.

There was no official comment from the Egyptian government about the removal of the barriers outside the U.K. embassy, but the move came amid escalating diplomatic tension between Egypt and several countries over protests

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