The U.S. and Britain closed their embassies in Yemen on Sunday 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 U.S. 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 Saturday that the al-Qaida offshoot was behind the attempt.
The White House counterterrorism chief John Brennan said the American Embassy, which was attacked twice in 2008, was shut Sunday because of an "active" al-Qaida threat. A statement on the embassy's Web site announcing the closure cited "ongoing threats" from the terror group and 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.
This move comes as the military are beefing up assistance efforts there.
Britain and the United States are assisting a counterterrorism police unit in Yemen amid fears of an increasing threat of international terrorism emanating from the country, the British government said Sunday.
Prime Minister Gordon Brown's office said that he and President Barack Obama agreed to 'intensify joint U.S.-U.K. work to tackle the emerging terrorist threat from both Yemen and Somalia' in the wake of the failed Detroit terror plot.
'Amongst the initiatives the PM has agreed with President Obama is U.S.-U.K. funding for a special counter-terrorism police unit in Yemen,' the statement said.
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By: Brant
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