BRIAN NELSON, CNN ANCHOR: In Rome, law enforcement officials are working to discover the source of a threat made there against the U.S. Embassy. That threat forced the embassy to close down this weekend. CNN's Rome bureau chief Gayle Young has more on that.</s>GAYLE YOUNG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Spokesmen say the U.S. Embassy on Rome's famed Via Venoto will remain close while officials conduct a thorough review of security. The embassy was evacuated suddenly Friday because of an unspecified threat. Most of the 300 employees were sent home, although its skeleton staff is now working in the building. U.S. officials will not say where the threat originated only that they received information credible enough to shut down operations. But Italian newspapers quoting Italian police sources report Algerian nationalists were planning to attack the U.S. mission on Friday. U.S. officials would not confirm the Italian report. An embassy source in Rome said the building would likely reopen for business within the next few days. It's unusual but not unprecedented for U.S. embassies to close as a security precaution, especially in the wake of the 1998 bombings of the U.S. missions in Kenya and Tanzania. Italy was the target of a number of terrorist attacks in the 1980s. In 1987, a small explosion damaged the gate in front of the U.S. Embassy in Rome, and five people were killed the following year in a blast to a U.S. military club in Naples. A militant organization, known as the Japanese Red Army, was held responsible for both attacks. But the country has been extremely peaceful in recent years. Authorities here worried that the threat of terrorism, real or imagined, could damage Italy's reputation as a place to enjoy the sweet life: la dolce vita. Gayle Young, CNN, Rome.
Rome Embassy Closed as Authorities Track Source of Threat