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Alert shuts US, UK Yemen missions Alert shuts US, UK Yemen missions
(29 minutes later)
The US and Britain have shut their Yemen embassies after threats from an al-Qaeda offshoot linked to an alleged failed US plane bomb plot.The US and Britain have shut their Yemen embassies after threats from an al-Qaeda offshoot linked to an alleged failed US plane bomb plot.
The UK Foreign Office told the BBC its embassy in the capital Sanaa was closed "for security reasons", hours after the US announced its mission had been shut.The UK Foreign Office told the BBC its embassy in the capital Sanaa was closed "for security reasons", hours after the US announced its mission had been shut.
It comes a day after top US soldier Gen David Petraeus visited Yemen to pledge US support for its fight with al-Qaeda. British Prime Minister Gordon Brown earlier said the UK and US would step up counter-terror efforts in Yemen.
There are mounting fears lawless Yemen is becoming an al-Qaeda haven.There are mounting fears lawless Yemen is becoming an al-Qaeda haven.
"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," said a statement on the US embassy website on Sunday. The embassy closures follow last week's threat by a group called al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, urging Muslims to help in "killing every crusader who works at their embassies or other places".
It is not clear when the two missions would reopen. In an internet statement, the group also said it was behind an attempt to bomb a transatlantic airliner on Christmas Day.
'Tighten the noose' YEMEN FACTS Population: 23.6 million (UN, 2009)Capital: SanaaMajor language: Arabic Major religion: IslamOil exports: $1.5bn/24.5m barrels (Jan-Oct 2009)Income per capita: US $950 (World Bank, 2008) class="" href="/2/hi/middle_east/8437724.stm">Profile: Al-Qaeda in Yemen class="" href="/2/hi/middle_east/8433519.stm">Attack stokes Yemen terror fears class="" href="/2/hi/middle_east/country_profiles/784383.stm">Country profile: Yemen class="" href="http://newsforums.bbc.co.uk/nol/thread.jspa?forumID=7384&edition=2">Send us your comments
In a statement on its website, the embassy also reminded US citizens in Yemen to be vigilant and aware of security. On Saturday, President Barack Obama said the organisation appeared to have trained 23-year-old Nigerian accused Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, who is being held in a US prison.
The mission was the target of an attack in September 2008, which was blamed on al-Qaeda, and in which 19 people died, including a young American woman. It was not clear when the UK or US embassies would reopen.
On Saturday, President Barack Obama accused al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula of orchestrating a failed Christmas Day attack on a US plane. 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 group said last week it had trained 23-year-old Nigerian Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, who spent time in Yemen last year, to carry out the attempted bombing of the airliner over Detroit. The embassy also reminded US citizens in Yemen to be vigilant and aware of security.
YEMEN FACTS Population: 23.6 million (UN, 2009)Capital: SanaaMajor language: ArabicMajor religion: IslamOil exports: $1.5bn/24.5m barrels (Jan-Oct 2009)Income per capita: US $950 (World Bank, 2008) class="" href="/2/hi/middle_east/8437724.stm">Profile: Al-Qaeda in Yemen class="" href="/2/hi/middle_east/8433519.stm">Attack stokes Yemen terror fears class="" href="/2/hi/middle_east/country_profiles/784383.stm">Country profile: Yemen class="" href="http://newsforums.bbc.co.uk/nol/thread.jspa?forumID=7384&edition=2">Send us your comments 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.
In its internet statement, al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula urged Muslims to help in "killing every crusader who works at their embassies or other places". 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."
Also on Saturday, Gen Petraeus, head of US Middle East and Central Asian operations, visited Yemeni President Ali Abdallah Saleh to discuss the militant threat. The US mission in Sanaa was the target of an attack in September 2008, which was blamed on al-Qaeda, and in which 19 people died, including a young American woman.
Also on Saturday, Gen Petraeus, head of US Middle East and Central Asian operations, visited Yemeni President Ali Abdallah Saleh to to pledge US support for its fight with al-Qaeda.
It came a day after the general announced that the US would more than double counter-terrorism aid to Yemen this year.It came a day after the general announced that the US would more than double counter-terrorism aid to Yemen this year.
The US provided $67m (£41m) in training and support to Yemen last year; only Pakistan receives more, with about $112m, according to AP news agency.The US provided $67m (£41m) in training and support to Yemen last year; only Pakistan receives more, with about $112m, according to AP news agency.
Yemeni officials said on Saturday they had sent more troops to fight al-Qaeda militants in the provinces of Abyan, Baida and Shabwa.Yemeni officials said on Saturday they had sent more troops to fight al-Qaeda militants in the provinces of Abyan, Baida and Shabwa.
"These measures are part of operations to hunt down elements of al-Qaeda... and tighten the noose around extremists," a Yemeni official told AFP news agency.
Analysts say the US has also provided intelligence to Yemeni forces, which carried out raids on 17 and 24 December that reportedly left more than 60 militants dead.
In his weekly address, President Obama said he had made it "a priority to strengthen our partnership with the Yemeni government, training and equipping their security forces, sharing intelligence and working with them to strike al-Qaeda terrorists".
'New type of threat'
He said training camps had already "been struck, leaders eliminated, plots disrupted".
Yemeni security forces have been fighting militantsYemeni security forces have been fighting militants
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown told the BBC on Sunday that the UK would work with the US to step up Yemen's counter-terrorism efforts. "These measures are part of operations to hunt down elements of al-Qaeda... and tighten the noose around extremists," a Yemeni official told AFP news agency.
"This is a new type of threat and it is from a new source which is obviously Yemen," said Mr Brown, "but there are many other potential sources Somalia, as well as Afghanistan and Pakistan." Analysts say the US has also provided intelligence to Yemeni forces, which carried out raids last month that reportedly left dozens of militants dead.
In his weekly address on Saturday, President Obama said militant training camps in Yemen had already "been struck, leaders eliminated, plots disrupted".
Yemen was thrust to the top of the Western security agenda in October 2000, when 17 US sailors died in an al-Qaeda suicide attack on the USS Cole destroyer in the port of Aden.Yemen was thrust to the top of the Western security agenda in October 2000, when 17 US sailors died in an al-Qaeda suicide attack on the USS Cole destroyer in the port of Aden.
Correspondents say the Yemeni government needs economic as well as military aid.Correspondents say the Yemeni government needs economic as well as military aid.
With a fast-growing and impoverished population, the country is facing diminishing water reserves and the likelihood that its only source of income, oil, will run dry in a few years.With a fast-growing and impoverished population, the country is facing diminishing water reserves and the likelihood that its only source of income, oil, will run dry in a few years.
But security is just as big a challenge, complicated by an abundance of firearms, an insurgency in the north and a secessionist movement in the south.But security is just as big a challenge, complicated by an abundance of firearms, an insurgency in the north and a secessionist movement in the south.
While the government is weak and unpopular in much of the country, the US has little choice but to work through it to fight al-Qaeda as any overt US presence would almost certainly provoke a public backlash.While the government is weak and unpopular in much of the country, the US has little choice but to work through it to fight al-Qaeda as any overt US presence would almost certainly provoke a public backlash.
But the prospects of re-asserting central government authority over the lawless areas where al-Qaeda is based look, in the opinion of some analysts, remote - even with beefed-up American support.But the prospects of re-asserting central government authority over the lawless areas where al-Qaeda is based look, in the opinion of some analysts, remote - even with beefed-up American support.