Britain Closes Embassy in Yemen

Britain Closes Embassy in Yemen

Wednesday January 5, 2005 6:16 PM


LONDON (AP) - Britain closed its embassy in Yemen on Wednesday because of ``specific security concerns'' and warned that terrorists were in the end stage of planning assaults against British targets in the country.

``The British embassy will be closed on Jan. 5 in response to specific security concerns,'' said a statement posted on the Foreign Office Web site.

As of Dec. 30, ``there is specific information that terrorists are in the final stages of planning attacks against British targets and other Western interests in Yemen,'' the statement added, warning Britons to be vigilant in public places, such as hotels.

Foreign Office officials were not immediately available for comment

link:
<http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-4712978,00.html>

I wonder if big attacks are being planned for the time of the Iraqi elections and/or the Bush-Cheney inauguration? The Guardian also has a report(see LBN)on someone trying to buy fertizer bomb material in Arizona.

I've heard wonderful things about Yemen, just as I had heard positive things about how beautiful Baghdad was, or used to be.

Thanks to US/UK foreign policy, the places where one could travel w/o fear of being blown up are becoming fewer and fewer.

out the Yemen Times regularly. They are fighting a group linked to Al-Qaeda. I believe we have some Special Forces in there. So, if British interests are being warned, one has to assume Americans are also on the alert, although I haven't seen anything on this...


Only recent story involving Americans is this one from the current issue:


http://yementimes.com/article.shtml?i=805&p=local&a=2

Aden Hotel files suit against US Embassy

Ridhwan Al-Saqqaf

The Aden hotel administration has filed a suit against the Embassy of the United States of America over its warning of not spending New Year’s Eve at the hotel because of alleged security factors.

In a statement to the Yemen Times, Fadhl al-Hilali, General Manager at Aden Hotel said the warnings of the American Embassy sparked fear among clients and made them leave the hotel. A number of workers also left the hotel fearing the warnings from the embassy.

Al-Hilali pointed out that the rumors resulted in heavy losses for the hotel and negatively affected the hotel’s reputation. It also led numerous companies to cancel their bookings at the hotel.

He mentioned that the hotel’s administration had already prepared several ceremonial programs to celebrate the occasion as other hotels all over Yemen do and that the celebration was to be sponsored by many trade companies.

“The warning period ended and nothing bad occurred, so this indicates that such rumors have no place of truth,” Al-Hilali said. “According to the filed suit, we claim a compensation worth $ US500,000.”