Security was tight at US missions around the Arab world Sunday as Washington held urgent talks on an Al-Qaeda threat that prompted it to close two dozen embassies and consulates.
Measures were particularly strict in Yemen's capital, where Britain, France and Germany also closed their embassies following a US warning which lawmakers in Washington said involved Al-Qaeda's joint Yemeni and Saudi branch.
But the US alert spread across most Arab capitals and extended further afield to Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Israel, with embassies and other diplomatic missions closed on Sunday, the first day of the working week in many Islamic countries.
In Sanaa, special forces with armored personnel carriers were stationed outside the US embassy and the missions of Britain, France and Germany, an AFP correspondent reported.
Police and army checkpoints were set up on all the Yemeni capital's main throughfares.
Residents said they heard the sound of a drone flying over, which could only be American as Washington is the sole power to operate the unmanned aircraft in the region.
Washington considers Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula to be the jihadist network's most active and dangerous branch, and has waged an intensifying drone war against the group's militants in Yemen.
In Jordan, authorities beefed up security around the closed US mission.
"Authorities have conducted a sweep for explosives at all US diplomatic locations and beefed up security measures around the US embassy," a Jordanian security official told AFP.
US National Security Adviser Susan Rice chaired White House talks to review Washington's response to the threat it revealed on Friday of a major attack by Al-Qaeda during the month of August in the Middle East or North Africa.
President Barack Obama did not attend but was briefed afterwards.
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