The US embassy in Nairobi is temporarily closed

"These assessments are wrong and misleading," Kenyan National Security Minister Chris Murungaru told the French AFP news agency on Saturday.

The embassy was closed on Friday as Pentagon officials warned of a "possible, imminent" terrorist attack.

A suicide bombing blamed on Osama Bin Laden's al-Qaeda network destroyed the US embassy in Nairobi in 1998, killing 213 people, mostly Kenyans.

They should know that New York is not any safer than Nairobi Chris Murungaru Kenyan National Security Minister

The new compound on the edge of the city has only been open a few months.

Following the security warning, all US interests in Kenya have been placed on the highest state of alert.

But Mr Murungaru said the dangers of a fresh attack had been exaggerated by US officials.

"They should know that New York is not any safer than Nairobi," he told AFP.

Tourist warning

For the past month, the US and Britain have warned tourists not to visit Kenya because of fears of a new al-Qaeda strike.

British Airways has suspended all its flights to the country.

In November last year, an Israeli hotel on the Kenyan coast was bombed and a charter plane narrowly missed being hit by a surface-to-air missile on take-off from the second city of Mombasa.

The Kenyan Government has urged both countries to relax their travel advisories, complaining that the local tourism industry is being devastated.