WASHINGTON The U.S. Embassy in Rome closed its doors Friday due to unspecified security concerns, the State Department said.

The embassy is expected to reopen for public business on Monday after conducting a weekend review of its security procedures, department spokesman Richard Boucher said.

Most embassy workers were sent home at about 10:30 a.m. local time. Consulates in Florence, Naples and Milan remained unaffected.

The United States has closed several embassies and consulates around the world for days at a time out of security concerns, especially since violence broke out in the Middle East in late September and following the bombing of the USS Cole in Aden, Yemen, on October 12.

Earlier this week, the U.S. Embassy in Ottawa, Canada, had a security scare when workers found a mysterious package and a scan showed the box contained electronics.

It turned out the box contained two Nintendo video game sets, Boucher said.

(DPA)