US order nonessential diplomats to leave Yemen

Source: AP

The State Department on Wednesday ordered nonessential U.S. diplomats to depart Yemen and urged all Americans there to leave as security conditions deteriorated with the country's embattled leader refusing to step down.

The decision to tell most nonessential personnel and the families of all American staff at the U.S. Embassy in Sanaa to leave was a sign of Washington's increasing concern about the situation in Yemen, where street battles between supporters and opponents of Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh raged for a third day. The clashes have left at least 41 dead and dozens badly injured.

"The security threat level in Yemen is extremely high due to terrorist activities and civil unrest," the State Department said in its advisory. "There is ongoing civil unrest throughout the country and large-scale protests in major cities."

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