US embassies to reopen after terror alert

Eighteen of the 19 US embassies closed this month due to worries about potential attacks will reopen on Sunday, the US state department said.

The US embassy in the Yemeni capital, however, would remain closed, a state department spokeswoman said on Friday.

"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 Jen Psaki said.

The US will also keep its consulate in Lahore, Pakistan, shuttered, Psaki said, adding it closed on Thursday due to a "separate credible threat".

On August 2, the US shut the 19 embassies in the Middle East and North Africa, saying it had picked up information through surveillance and other means about unspecified threats.

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

Meanwhile, the US government this week warned its citizens to avoid traveling to Pakistan, while some US diplomats from Yemen were evacuated and US nationals were told to leave the country immediately.

President Barack Obama, during a White House press conference, declined to comment on reports of drone strikes in Pakistan that targeted suspected fighters in that country.

The state department did not indicate when its facilities in Sanaa and Lahore might reopen, saying it will continue to evaluate the "threats".