THE US and Britain closed their embassies in the Yemeni capital yesterday following warnings that al-Qaeda is preparing attacks in Sanaa.
John Brennan, US presidential adviser on terrorism and national security, said: “We are very concerned about al-Qaeda’s continued growth [in Yemen].”
He cited as the reason for the closures “indications that al-Qaeda is planning an attack on a target in Sanaa, possibly on our embassy”.
Nineteen people died when the US mission was attacked in 2008 in an operation blamed on al-Qaeda.
Westerners were warned not to circulate and to keep a low profile.
While there was no indication when the US embassy would reopen, the British foreign office said that its mission would shut for Sunday and a decision would be taken later about when to resume operations.
Spain is set to close its embassy today and tomorrow.
Last week, al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, the group that assumed blame for the Christmas Day bombing attempt on a US airliner bound for Detroit, called on Muslims to join the campaign to kill “every crusader working in embassies and other places”.
On Saturday, US president Barack Obama said the group appears to have trained and deployed Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the 23-year-old Nigerian accused of trying to blow up the airliner with 278 people on board.
Gen David Petraeus, head of US military operations in the region, delivered a letter from Mr Obama to Yemeni president Ali Abdullah Saleh pledging an almost doubling of military aid to Yemen from $67 million to $112 million.
The US provides training, intelligence and logistics support; US drones have targeted al-Qaeda operatives in the area.
The US is accused by al-Qaeda of involvement in two air strikes that killed 60 people, including 30 militants, last month. This seems to have have been confirmed by Mr Obama, who said militant training camps in Yemen had “been struck, leaders eliminated, plots disrupted”.
Direct US military involvement could create serious difficulties for the Yemeni government which is fighting a rebellion in the north and a secessionist movement in the south, as well as trying to eliminate the threat posed by al-Qaeda.
Abdul Karim al-Eryani, former prime minister and presidential adviser, said US forces are welcome as advisers but would not be permitted to take part in combat.
He said co-operation over the past five to six years had so far been useful and that training and monitoring will continue, although this “may create some antagonism” among Yemenis already alienated by US policy in the area.
“Any US involvement anywhere in the Middle East creates antagonism,” he said.
The perilous situation in Yemen became all the more dangerous when Somalia’s al-Shabaab group, which is seeking to overthrow the US-backed government in Mogadishu, offered on Friday to send fighters to help al-Qaeda.
Yemeni foreign minister Abu Bakr al-Qirbi said: “Yemen will not accept on its territory any presence by [foreign] terrorist elements and will be on guard against anyone who tries to act against its security and stability.”
