'Specific Threat' Closes Embassy

The U.S. embassy in Rome was closed for a second consecutive day on Saturday over security concerns, while authorities stepped up their watch at airports and U.S. bases across Italy.

The embassy closed on Friday morning after what a source called a "very specific threat."

Security sources said on Saturday the threat was centered in Rome and was believed to be directed against a person and not necessarily the embassy complex on the capital's sweeping Via Veneto.

"We are looking at the security situation and will make a decision over the weekend on whether to reopen the embassy for public services on Monday," a U.S. embassy spokesman said.

In the wake of the threat, security at Rome's main airport was tightened with most attention paid to flights heading to or arriving from the United States or the Middle East.

Most of the speculation as to who would target the U.S. embassy has centered on Middle Eastern groups.

"It could be for a number of reasons. Israel-Palestinian tensions, or it could be related to (Islamic fundamentalist Osama) bin Laden because some of his people are on trial," a source said.

Four men are on trial in New York, charged with conspiring with Saudi exile bin Laden to bomb two U.S. embassies in East Africa in 1998, killing more than 200 people.

Hours after the Rome embassy shut, the U.S. government warned citizens abroad to beware of possible attacks.

The warning was a five-month extension of a caution issued in October when a U.S. ship was bombed in the Yemen port of Aden, killing 17 sailors.

During the 1970s and early 1980s, Rome was the target of a spate of guerrilla attacks by Italian and Middle Eastern groups.

One of the bloodiest attacks by a Palestinian group took place on Dec. 27, 1985, when a commando opened fire with guns and grenades on passengers at Rome airport.

Sixteen people, including three of the guerrillas, were killed in the attack.