The American embassy's website said the threats come from al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula , the group linked to the failed Christmas Day airplane bombing attempt in the United States. The message in part said, "The U.S. Embassy in Sana’a is closed today, January 3, 2010, in response to ongoing threats by Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) to attack American interests in Yemen." Deputy National Security Advisor for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism John O. Brennan said on CNN's State of the Union with John King , "There are indications that al Qaeda is planning to carry out an attack against a target inside of Sana'a, possibly our embassy." Brennan added, "And what we do is to take every measure possible to ensure the safety of our diplomats and citizens abroad, so the decision was made to close the embassy." A spokesperson for the British Foreign Office said their embassy would be closed on Sunday and a decision to reopen would be made on Monday. The closures come a day after U.S. General David Petraeus visited the capital, Sana'a , to discuss security issues with President Ali Abdullah Saleh . The general, who oversees the U.S. wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, recently announced that the United States would more than double its security aid to the impoverished nation. Yesterday, in his weekly radio address, President Barack Obama linked the suspect in the attempted bombing of Northwest Airlines Flight 253 to al-Qaeda saying, "We know that he traveled to Yemen, a country grappling with crushing poverty and deadly insurgencies. It appears that he joined an affiliate of al-Qaeda, and that this group, al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, trained him, equipped him with those explosives and directed him to attack that plane headed for America." Earlier today, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown told the BBC , "This is a new type of threat and it is from a new source which is obviously Yemen, but there are many other potential sources Somalia, as well as Afghanistan and Pakistan."
The American embassy's website said the threats come from , the group linked to the failed Christmas Day airplane bombing attempt in the United States. The message in part said, "The U.S. Embassy in Sana’a is closed today, January 3, 2010, in response to ongoing threats by Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) to attack American interests in Yemen." Deputy National Security Advisor for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism said on 's , "There are indications that al Qaeda is planning to carry out an attack against a target inside of Sana'a, possibly our embassy." Brennan added, "And what we do is to take every measure possible to ensure the safety of our diplomats and citizens abroad, so the decision was made to close the embassy." A spokesperson for the British said their embassy would be closed on Sunday and a decision to reopen would be made on Monday. The closures come a day after U.S. General visited the capital, , to discuss security issues with President . The general, who oversees the U.S. wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, recently announced that the United States would more than double its security aid to the impoverished nation. Yesterday, in his weekly radio address, President Barack Obama linked the suspect in the attempted bombing of to saying, "We know that he traveled to Yemen, a country grappling with crushing poverty and deadly insurgencies. It appears that he joined an affiliate of al-Qaeda, and that this group, al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, trained him, equipped him with those explosives and directed him to attack that plane headed for America." Earlier today, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown told the , "This is a new type of threat and it is from a new source which is obviously Yemen, but there are many other potential sources Somalia, as well as Afghanistan and Pakistan."
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al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula
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John O. Brennan said on CNN's State of the Union with John King
said on 's
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Foreign Office
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David Petraeus
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Sana'a
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Ali Abdullah Saleh
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Northwest Airlines Flight 253 to al-Qaeda
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BBC