Both the United States and the United Kingdom have decided to close shop in Yemen as embassies for both the nation’s have been ordered closed in the budding terrorist hotbed in reaction to active Al Qaeda terror threats. A timeline for when they may reopen has not been announced as of yet.
armed the man accused in the Christmas Day plot against a U.S. airliner.
“We’re not going to take any chances” with the lives of American diplomats and others at the embassy in Yemen’s capital, White House aide John Brennan said. “There are indications al-Qaida is planning to carry out an attack against a target inside of San’a, possibly our embassy.”
Britain also shuttered its embassy, citing security reasons.
Brennan said the threat against Americans and Westerners would not ease until Yemen’s government got a better handle on the threat from terrorists inside the country. He estimated there are several hundred members of al-Qaida in Yemen. “We are very concerned about al-Qaida’s continued growth there,” Brennan said.
In a brief statement on its website on Sunday, the US embassy said: “The US Embassy in Sanaa is closed today, January 3, 2010, in response to ongoing threats by al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula to attack American interests in Yemen.”
The embassy also reminded US citizens in Yemen to be vigilant and aware of security.
A Foreign Office spokeswoman said the British embassy was closed on Sunday and a decision would be taken later on whether to open it on Monday.
Hours earlier, the British prime minister told the BBC: “This is a new type of threat and it is from a new source which is obviously Yemen, but there are many other potential sources Somalia, as well as Afghanistan and Pakistan.”
