U.S. media reports say intercepted communications between al-Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahri and the head of the terrorist group's offshoot in Yemen prompted the Obama administration to close dozens of U.S. diplomatic posts and issue a worldwide travel alert.
The reports said that al-Zawahri ordered Nasir al-Wuhayshi, the leader of al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, to carry out an attack as early as this past Sunday. Al-Wuhayshi was recently elevated by al-Zawahri as al-Qaida's second-ranked leader.
Analysts say the communications indicate that al-Zawahri is working through al-Qaida's regional affiliates now that the core group has been substantially weakened.
Some embassies were reopened Monday after a day-long shutdown, including posts in Algiers, Baghdad, Dhaka, and Kabul. Nineteen others will stay closed including Amman, Cairo and Sanaa, and Tripoli.
The State Department says it is keeping the 19 embassies closed "out of an abundance of caution." Spokeswoman Marie Harf says officials will keep analyzing intelligence as it evaluates security needs.