A US intelligence official told Reuters that there was some disagreement in the intelligence community as to whether the potential target was Yemen or the whole region, which is why the State Department's warning included the whole Arabian Peninsula.
Senator Lindsey Graham, a Republican, said on CNN that the pre-emptive actions taken by the Obama administration showed that lessons have been learned since the disastrous Benghazi attacks last year, in which four people, including the US ambassador, were killed.
"Benghazi was a complete failure. The threats were real there. The reporting was real. And we basically dropped the ball," he said.
A Burundian guard locks the gate of the US Ambassador's residence in Bujumbura (AFP Photo/Alexander Joe)
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