Monday, January 04, 2010 SANAA: The United States and Britain promptly closed their embassies in Yemen on Sunday after learning an Al-Qaeda offshoot linked to a botched US airliner bombing is planning attacks on Western targets.
US President Barack Obama has accused the Yemen-based Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, or AQAP, of arming and training a Nigerian accused of trying to blow up a Detroit-bound Northwest Airlines jet on Christmas Day.
AQAP claimed responsibility for the failed attack and called for strikes on embassies in Yemen.
"There are indications that Al-Qaeda is planning to carry out an attack against (a) target inside of Sanaa, possibly our embassy," Obama's counter-terrorism adviser John Brennan said on Sunday.
"So the decision was made to close the embassy. We're working very closely with the Yemeni government on taking the proper security precautions," Brennan said on media.
The US embassy posted a statement on its website saying the closure was "in response to ongoing threats by Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula... to attack American interests in Yemen."
Britain followed suit, with a spokeswoman for the Foreign Office in London confirming its Sanaa embassy had been closed "for security reasons."
A Yemeni government official told media the British mission was closed "out of fear of possible Al-Qaeda reactions," but stressed there were "no direct Al-Qaeda threats."
Spain meanwhile decided to restrict public access to its Sanaa embassy for the same reasons, a diplomatic source said after the online edition of El Mundo newspaper reported the mission would close on Monday and Tuesday.
Fears grew after AQAP urged Muslims on Monday to attack Western targets in the impoverished Arabian Peninsula country.
"We call upon every Muslim who cares about his religion and doctrine to assist in expelling the apostasies from the Arabian Peninsula, by killing every crusader who works at their embassies or other places, declare it an all-out war against every crusader on Mohammad's peninsula on land, air and sea," it said in a statement.
US President Barack Obama has accused the Yemen-based Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, or AQAP, of arming and training a Nigerian accused of trying to blow up a Detroit-bound Northwest Airlines jet on Christmas Day.
AQAP claimed responsibility for the failed attack and called for strikes on embassies in Yemen.
"There are indications that Al-Qaeda is planning to carry out an attack against (a) target inside of Sanaa, possibly our embassy," Obama's counter-terrorism adviser John Brennan said on Sunday.
"So the decision was made to close the embassy. We're working very closely with the Yemeni government on taking the proper security precautions," Brennan said on media.
The US embassy posted a statement on its website saying the closure was "in response to ongoing threats by Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula... to attack American interests in Yemen."
Britain followed suit, with a spokeswoman for the Foreign Office in London confirming its Sanaa embassy had been closed "for security reasons."
A Yemeni government official told media the British mission was closed "out of fear of possible Al-Qaeda reactions," but stressed there were "no direct Al-Qaeda threats."
Spain meanwhile decided to restrict public access to its Sanaa embassy for the same reasons, a diplomatic source said after the online edition of El Mundo newspaper reported the mission would close on Monday and Tuesday.
Fears grew after AQAP urged Muslims on Monday to attack Western targets in the impoverished Arabian Peninsula country.
"We call upon every Muslim who cares about his religion and doctrine to assist in expelling the apostasies from the Arabian Peninsula, by killing every crusader who works at their embassies or other places, declare it an all-out war against every crusader on Mohammad's peninsula on land, air and sea," it said in a statement.
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