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19 U.S. Embassies, Consulates Closed until Saturday
The terror threat that prompted the State Department to close 22 U.S. embassies and consulates across the Muslim world this past Sunday has left 19 of those diplomatic posts closed through the rest of this week.
“The CIA and the National Security Agency had been secretly monitoring intelligence tips for weeks,” reports CNN’s Barbara Starr.
“There were indications of a possible terrorist attack in Yemen, a stronghold of one of Al Qaeda's deadliest affiliates.”
Washington sprang to action when a crucial message was recently intercepted involving communications among senior al Qaeda operatives.
U.S. officials then issued a worldwide travel warning in addition to closing embassies across the Middle East and North Africa as a precaution.
Starr reports, “Fifteen hundred Marines on board three Navy warships in the Red Sea will now remain off the coast of Yemen ready to react.”
Follow along at CNN.com for emerging details in the story.
State Dept. Closing Middle East Embassies Sunday
A "serious and credible" terror threat is prompting the U.S. State Department to close more than a dozen embassies and consulates in the Middle East and across the Muslim world on Sunday.
Officials say the unspecified threat is directed at U.S. targets overseas, and may not be confined to diplomatic posts.
“The move comes as the holy days that mark the end of Ramadan approach at merely a year after the deadly attack on the U.S. mission in Benghazi, Libya,” reports CNN’s Barbara Starr.
“Now the embassy in the capital Tripoli will be closed.”
Embassies in Cairo, Tel Aviv, Riyadh, and Baghdad, which “would normally have been open on Sunday,” are also being shut down.
“And the closings may expand to include additional days,” Starr says.
Look back at Hillary Clinton's legacy on her last day as Secretary of State – Jill Dougherty reports
It's the final day on the job for Secretary Of State Hillary Clinton. Clinton says she's ready for some rest, which is unsurprising after logging almost one million miles in the air in the last four years.
Questions remain about Clinton's plans for the future—especially about whether she will run in 2016. Jill Dougherty reports on "Early Start" with more on Secretary Clinton's farewell to the State Department.
