U.S. to reopen 18 of 19 foreign posts closed amid security concerns

WASHINGTON,  (Reuters) – Eighteen of the 19 U.S. embassies and consulates closed this month due to worries about potential terrorist attacks will reopen tomorrow, the U.S. State Department said yesterday.

“Our embassy in Sanaa, Yemen, will remain closed because of ongoing concerns about a threat stream indicating the potential for terrorist attacks emanating from Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula,” State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said.

The United States will also keep its consulate in Lahore, Pakistan, shuttered, Psaki said, adding it closed on Thursday due to a “separate credible threat.”
The United States shut about 20 of its embassies and consulates in the Middle East and Africa on Sunday after saying it had picked up information through surveillance and other means about unspecified terrorist threats. It later said the missions would remain closed through Aug. 10.

A worldwide alert said that al Qaeda could be planning attacks in the Middle East and North Africa.

The reopening U.S. posts are located in Jordan, Egypt, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman, Libya, Madagascar, Burundi, Djibouti, Sudan, Rwanda, Mauritius, as well as three in Saudi Arabia and two in the United Arab Emirates.