NYT: Qaeda leaders' communication led to embassy closure

Intercepted communications in which al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahri ordered the leader of the affiliate in Yemen to carry out an attack as early as last Sunday prompted the United States to close diplomatic missions in the Middle East and Africa, the New York Times reported on Monday.

The intercepted conversations were between Zawahri, who succeeded Osama bin Laden as head of al-Qaeda, and Nasser al-Wuhayshi, the head of the Yemen-based al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, the newspaper said, citing American officials. (Reuters)