Johannesburg, Sept 22, SPA --In a surprise move prompted by an"undisclosed security threat," the United States government shut downall its facilities in South Africa today, dpa reported. In the statement posted on its website, the US embassy in Pretoriasaid: "Based on information recently received by the RegionalSecurity Office, all US government facilities in South Africa will beclosed on Tuesday, September 22, 2009." "Our current assumption is that all US government facilities willbe open on Wednesday, September 23, 2009," it added. The announcement came as a surprise as the US government is notknown to be under a specific threat in South Africa. The closure alsoaffects the consulate general in Johannesburg. US citizens living in South Africa had not received a messagefrom the embassy informing them of a threat against US citizens. The US embassy spokeswoman and South African foreign affairsspokeswoman could not be reached for comment. A spokesman for theSouth African Police Service (SAPS), which was briefing parliamentTuesday morning on the country's latest crime statistics, said theSAPS would issue a statement on the matter later. A South African embassy employee in Pretoria said he was contactedby the embassy on Monday evening around 6 pm (1600 GMT) and told"everything was closing down due to a security threat" but given nofurther details. The employee, who asked not to be named but who said he has workedat the embassy for over a decade, said the news came as a surpriseand that he was awaiting a call to tell him when to return to work. It was unclear whether the threat was of a terrorist nature.--SPA www.spa.gov.sa/702279