US embassy in Yemen reopens as Hillary warns of instability
Wednesday, 6 January 2010
SANAA, Jan 5 (AFP): The US embassy in Yemen reopened Tuesday after a two-day closure prompted by Al-Qaeda threats as US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton warned unrest in the Arab country is a threat to global stability.
The embassy said on its website that Yemeni security forces had addressed a "specific area of concern" in the north of the capital on Monday, paving the way for Tuesday's reopening.
Warnings of a possible Al-Qaeda attack had led Washington to close its embassy in the Yemeni capital on Sunday. The British and French authorities followed suit, while Japan suspended consular services at its embassy.
Long-standing concerns that Yemen, a country on the southern tip of the Arabian peninsula, has become a haven for Islamic terror groups were thrown into sharp relief when a Nigerian man allegedly trained in Yemen was charged with trying to blow up a US-bound jet.
The botched Christmas Day attack was claimed by Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), which also urged attacks on Western interests in Yemen.
US President Barack Obama was to hold talks Tuesday with his intelligence and national security chiefs on the failed bombing, with an administration official telling AFP that Obama would unveil an "initial series of reforms" following the meeting.
The US embassy in its statement announcing its reopening, appeared to refer to a security operation conducted by Yemeni police Monday in the area of Arhab, 40 kilometres (25 miles) north of Sanaa, where two suspected members of Al-Qaeda were killed and three others wounded.
British embassy staff meanwhile returned to their offices on Tuesday after having to work from elsewhere, but the mission remained closed to public, a Foreign Office spokesman said.
The French embassy remained shut to the public Tuesday while the Japanese mission kept its consular section closed.
The embassy said on its website that Yemeni security forces had addressed a "specific area of concern" in the north of the capital on Monday, paving the way for Tuesday's reopening.
Warnings of a possible Al-Qaeda attack had led Washington to close its embassy in the Yemeni capital on Sunday. The British and French authorities followed suit, while Japan suspended consular services at its embassy.
Long-standing concerns that Yemen, a country on the southern tip of the Arabian peninsula, has become a haven for Islamic terror groups were thrown into sharp relief when a Nigerian man allegedly trained in Yemen was charged with trying to blow up a US-bound jet.
The botched Christmas Day attack was claimed by Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), which also urged attacks on Western interests in Yemen.
US President Barack Obama was to hold talks Tuesday with his intelligence and national security chiefs on the failed bombing, with an administration official telling AFP that Obama would unveil an "initial series of reforms" following the meeting.
The US embassy in its statement announcing its reopening, appeared to refer to a security operation conducted by Yemeni police Monday in the area of Arhab, 40 kilometres (25 miles) north of Sanaa, where two suspected members of Al-Qaeda were killed and three others wounded.
British embassy staff meanwhile returned to their offices on Tuesday after having to work from elsewhere, but the mission remained closed to public, a Foreign Office spokesman said.
The French embassy remained shut to the public Tuesday while the Japanese mission kept its consular section closed.