Al-Qaida threats see US, Britain close embassies

THE US and Britain closed their embassies in Yemen yesterday in the face of al-Qaida threats, after both countries announced an increase in aid to the government to fight the terror group linked to the failed attempt to bomb a US airliner on Christmas.

The confrontation with al-Qaida’s offshoot in Yemen has gained new urgency since the 23-year-old Nigerian accused in the attack, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, told American investigators he received training and instructions from the group’s operatives in Yemen. President Barack Obama said on Saturday that the al-Qaida offshoot was behind the attempt.

White House counter-terrorism chief John Brennan said the American Embassy, which was attacked twice in 2008, was shut yesterday because of “indications al-Qaida is planning to carry out an attack against a target inside of San’a, possibly our embassy”.

“We’re not going to take any chances” with the lives of embassy personnel, Brennan said.

A statement on the embassy’s website announcing the closure did not say how long it would remain closed.

In London, Britain’s Foreign Office said its embassy was closed for security reasons. It said officials would decide later whether to reopen it on Monday.

The closure comes as Washington is dramatically stepping up aid to Yemen to fight al-Qaida, which has built up strongholds in remote parts of the impoverished, mountainous nation where government control outside the capital is weak.

Over the weekend, General David Petraeus, the US general who oversees the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, announced that Washington this year will more than double the $67 million (€46.78) in counter-terrorism aid that it provided Yemen in 2009.

On Saturday, Petraeus met with Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh to discuss coordination in the fight against al-Qaida.

Britain announced yesterday that Washington and London will fund a counter-terrorism police unit in Yemen. Britain will also host a high-level international conference on January 28 to come up with an international strategy to counter radicalisation in Yemen.

The US also provided intelligence and other help to back two Yemeni air and ground assaults on al-Qaida hide-outs last month, reported to have killed more than 60 people.

The US has increasingly provided intelligence, surveillance and training to Yemeni forces during the past year, and has provided some firepower, a senior US defence official has said. Some of that assistance may be through the expanded use of unmanned drones, and the US is providing funding to Yemen for helicopters and other equipment. Officials say there are no US ground forces or fighter aircraft in Yemen.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said British airports will introduce full-body scanners to prevent terrorists smuggling explosives on board planes. Extra body searches, extended restriction on leaving seats, and a greater use of explosive-sniffing dogs are additional measures being considered, Transport Secretary Andrew Adonis said in a separate interview with The Sunday Times.