U.S. Administartion Explains What Threat Intelligence Was Used To Close A Number Of Embassies

Fortifications are pictured outside the British embassy in Sanaa August 5, 2013. REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah

Al Qaeda Intercept Is Just One Piece Of Threat Intelligence: U.S. Sources -- Reuters

(Reuters) - Intercepted communication between al Qaeda leaders was one component of a broader pool of intelligence that prompted a threat alert closing numerous U.S. embassies in the Middle East and Africa, U.S. sources said on Monday.

The New York Times reported that the closure of the embassies was the result of intercepted electronic communications between Ayman al-Zawahri, who replaced Osama bin Laden as head of al Qaeda, and Nasser al-Wuhayshi, the head of Yemen-based affiliate al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP).

U.S. sources said that while some type of message between Zawahri and AQAP was intercepted recently, there were also other streams of intelligence that contributed to the security alert, which was prompted by a threat from AQAP.

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My Comment: It looks like the administration is trying to scramble an excuse on how they obtained their intel on Al Qaeda's latest threat. Bottom line .... the New York Times story/leak that the administration intercepted communications between Al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahri and the head of Al Qaeda's affiliate in Yemen is probably valid .... and it is this news on how this intel was obtained that should never have been released.