Threats by al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula against targets in Yemen prompted the closure of the U.S. and British embassies there Sunday, officials said.

"There are indications that al Qaeda is planning to carry out an attack against a target inside of Sanaa, possibly our embassy," John Brennan, the assistant to the president for homeland security and counterterrorism, said on CNN's "State of the Union" on Sunday. "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."

The United States is working closely with the Yemeni government on the proper security precautions, he said.

The British Foreign Office told CNN its embassy also closed because of security concerns. A spokeswoman said a decision would be made later Sunday on whether it would reopen on Monday.

U.S. State Department spokesman Fred Lash would not elaborate on any specific security threats, and said he did not know how long the embassy would remain closed.
The embassy on December 31 alerted Americans in Yemen to remain on alert for the possibility of terrorist violence.

On Christmas Day, a Nigerian man allegedly attempted to detonate an explosive device on board a Northwest Airlines flight from Amsterdam, Netherlands, to Detroit, Michigan. On Saturday, President Obama linked the suspect, 23-year-old Umar Farouk AbdulMutallab, to an al Qaeda affiliate based in Yemen.

Shortly after the incident, Yemen-based al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula claimed responsibility for the bombing attempt.

"I think what we've seen over the past several years in Yemen is an increasing strengthening of al Qaeda forces in Yemen," Brennan told CNN. "There are several hundred al Qaeda members there."

In a Sunday interview on the BBC's "The Andrew Marr Show," British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said besides increased security measures, "We've got to also get back to the source of this, which is Yemen, Somalia, Pakistan, and we've got to recognize that we've got a group of young people who have been radicalized as a result of teaching by extremist clerics, and we've got to recognize that we're fighting a battle for hearts and minds here as much as everything else."

He said Britain will work with American authorities to support the Yemeni government in its counterterrorism efforts.

On Saturday, Gen. David Petraeus, head of the U.S. Central Command, met with Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh in Yemen, a senior U.S. government official told CNN. During his meeting with Petraeus, Saleh expressed his appreciation for U.S. help in combating extremists, offered more support for U.S. counterterrorism strikes, and said he would continue providing assistance for the U.S. investigation into the attempted bombing, the official said.

The official said that Petraeus was carrying several messages and "various items" of information from Obama to Saleh. No further details were available.
The two men discussed the latest intelligence on al Qaeda in Yemen, the official said, adding that the group in the U.S.-Yemeni meeting was kept very small on both sides.

In remarks Saturday, Obama pledged that everyone involved in the attack would be held accountable, and highlighted his administration's attempts to crack down on extremist enclaves in Yemen. The president also reiterated his long-standing promise to "disrupt, dismantle and defeat" al Qaeda.

Obama said that AbdulMutallab had recently traveled to Yemen and that "it appears that he joined an affiliate of al Qaeda." Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula apparently trained AbdulMutallab, equipped him with explosives, and directed him to attack the plane, the president said in his weekly radio address.

Obama has been criticized by some political opponents for not responding more aggressively to the bombing attempt.

From the first day, the Obama administration has been focused on Yemen, Brennan said Sunday
"We are very concerned about al Qaeda's continued growth there, but they're not just focused on Yemen," he said of al Qaeda. "They are, in fact, looking toward the West." That's why, he said, "we have to get to this problem in Yemen now."

"This is not the first time this group has targeted us," Obama noted. Recently, he said, "they have bombed Yemeni government facilities and Western hotels, restaurants and embassies -- including our embassy in 2008."

"Everything is possible" in terms of U.S. military assistance, Brennan told NBC's "Meet the Press" on Sunday. The United States is providing Yemen with "security, intelligence and military support," he said. "We want to make sure the Yemenis have what they need."

He told CNN that while the United States has made progress in diminishing al Qaeda's capabilities, the organization is still a threat and still has the capacity to carry out attacks, and continues looking for ways to do so.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/meast/01/03/yemen.us.embassy/index.html

Wahala dey!

Will this world ever know peace?

this is bogus nonsense - the US have fabricated this whole non event in order to attack Yemen, many people are unaware of what is really behind this but in a nutshell this is whats happening:

Yemen is a poor arab country who refused to support the US in the bombing of Iraq when Sadaam invaded Kuwait in 1991 as a result the US decided to isolate Yemen, Yemen also has a large population of disaffected saudis who fled saudi arabia for Yemen because they are now fed up of living under US controlled Saudi Arabia.

these saudi defectors are engaged in a civil war fighting to overthrow the Saudi backed Yemeni govt
they are also being helped by iranian backed militants.

the US has been looking for an excuse to intervene by using al qaeda militants to oust the iranian backed militants - i know its confusing but in a nutshell the americans are sending US trained al qaeda militants (al qaeda is not an islamic fundamentalist organisation but a US funded and trained militant organisation) to Yemen to oust the iranian backed militants which they are hoping will weaken Iran and make them more militarily vulnerable to possibly future attacks from the US.

the nigerian so called underwear bomber is a patsy - he was used by the US intelligence in order to provoke worldwide outrage and justify america's attack against Yemen - which is now underway - this is similar to how the weapons of mass destruction accusation was used against Sadam in order to justify america launching an all out war under false pretences against Iraq.

you are being lied to by the US and the UK govts and media dont buy it!!!

cap28:

this is bogus nonsense - the US have fabricated this whole non event  in order to attack Yemen, many people are unaware of what is really behind this but in a nutshell this is whats happening:

Yemen is a poor arab country who refused to support the US in the bombing of Iraq when Sadaam invaded Kuwait in 1991 as a result the US decided to isolate Yemen, Yemen also has a large population of disaffected saudis who fled saudi arabia for Yemen because they are now fed up of living under US controlled Saudi Arabia.

these saudi  defectors are engaged in a civil war fighting to overthrow the Saudi backed Yemeni govt
they are also being helped by iranian backed militants. 

the US has been looking for an excuse to intervene by using al qaeda militants to oust the iranian backed militants - i know its confusing but in a nutshell the americans are sending  US trained al qaeda militants (al qaeda is not an islamic fundamentalist organisation but a US funded and trained militant organisation) to Yemen to oust the iranian backed militants which they are hoping will weaken Iran and make them more militarily vulnerable to possibly future attacks from the US. 

the nigerian so called underwear bomber is a patsy - he was used by the US intelligence in order to provoke worldwide outrage and justify america's attack against Yemen - which is now underway - this is similar to how the weapons of mass destruction accusation was used against Sadam in order to justify america launching an all out war under false pretences against Iraq.

you are being lied to by the US and the UK govts and media dont buy it!!!

Logically plausible , considering that US Intelligence knew about the guy but did nothing  . . . yet an ordinary person can't sneeze without CIA and FBI knocking on their door.

Sometimes its quite funny that the same Arabs that are figthing US do not realise that the US itself is the one funding them to fight the US so that the US can get an excuse to then turn around and wag an un-ending war against the Arabs . . .



Talk about working for your enemy against your own interest without even knowing it . . .

No2Atheism:



Sometimes its quite funny that the same Arabs that are figthing US do not realise that the US itself is the one funding them to fight the US so that the US can get an excuse to then turn around and wag an un-ending war against the Arabs . . .



Talk about working for your enemy against your own interest without even knowing it . . .

hey are u serious or u're just joking

cap28:

this is bogus nonsense - the US have fabricated this whole non event  in order to attack Yemen, many people are unaware of what is really behind this but in a nutshell this is whats happening:

Yemen is a poor arab country who refused to support the US in the bombing of Iraq when Sadaam invaded Kuwait in 1991 as a result the US decided to isolate Yemen, Yemen also has a large population of disaffected saudis who fled saudi arabia for Yemen because they are now fed up of living under US controlled Saudi Arabia.

these saudi  defectors are engaged in a civil war fighting to overthrow the Saudi backed Yemeni govt
they are also being helped by iranian backed militants.  

the US has been looking for an excuse to intervene by using al qaeda militants to oust the iranian backed militants - i know its confusing but in a nutshell the americans are sending  US trained al qaeda militants (al qaeda is not an islamic fundamentalist organisation but a US funded and trained militant organisation) to Yemen to oust the iranian backed militants which they are hoping will weaken Iran and make them more militarily vulnerable to possibly future attacks from the US.  

the nigerian so called underwear bomber is a patsy - he was used by the US intelligence in order to provoke worldwide outrage and justify america's attack against Yemen - which is now underway - this is similar to how the weapons of mass destruction accusation was used against Sadam in order to justify america launching an all out war under false pretences against Iraq.

you are being lied to by the US and the UK govts and media dont buy it!!!

I dont agree America is funding terrorist to inflict damages on itself all the for sake going to war what would be point.  What i subscribe to is "America or western world funds organisations who are used to destablize nations who then later than turn on their source".

From the minute when that kid was rumbled, i knew it will end in some schitzo like this. . .
God please take control. . . .

gidson12:

hey are u serious or u're just joking

I think he is joking  -  Some people dont realise that War on Terror is not a script written by the western world

blacksta:

I think he is joking  -  Some people dont realise that War on Terror is not a script written by the western world

i thought as much how would americans be funding terrorism indirectly, yemen on its own is a small poor country so i dont see any reason America would want to go to that extend

gidson12:

i thought as much how would americans be funding terrorism indirectly, yemen on its own is a small poor country so i dont see any reason America would want to go to that extend

blacksta:

I think he is joking  -  Some people dont realise that War on Terror is not a script written by the western world

- Actually I am not joking and i mean every bit of the statement i made . . .

- You don't realise it but you are basically saying the same thing I am saying, US does not need to constantly control the Arab terrorist leaders, all it needs to do is jumpstart the process by initially training them and then allow them to go rouge so that they can then other terrorists . . .hence indirectly those people would not realise that it is actually the intention of the US to have enemies to fight and hence this enemies is created by proxy.

Search your information then you would realise Osama bin laden was actually working for US Intelligence at one point in time . . . . .

- Yes you are correct that some of the so called terrorists were actually trained by the West for other purposes and those guys have now turned against the US.

- Yes some of the people fighting are not being controlled directly . . . however what you don't realise that the War on Terror is a self replicating process . . .all the US need to do is control a few of their leaders who in turn would brainwash others and hence jumpstart a never ending war . . . even after those initial leaders have been killed.

- However you fail to realise that:  Saddam did not have Weapon of Mass Destruction hence the war in Iraq was based on false information . . . meaning that US went to war because they needed to go to war . . . and not because it was for fighthing terrorists. . . .British reports show that Blair and Bush had already decided on going to war even before the so called invasion.

    Guess what: After the reports have exposed Tony Blair of a fraudulent war in Iraq. . .guess what he said . . .

HE SAID HE WOULD HAVE STILL GONE TO WAR IN IRAQ EVEN THOUGH THERE WAS NO WEAPON OF MASS DESTRUCTION.


  - Yemen is merely a pawn in the overall war against Iran . . . and also to benefit Saudi Arabia which is a US.

  - Yemen is also merely an avenue to make money for the military industrial complex . . .

  - Most people do not understand the fundamental fact that US is broke and bankrupt and they need to make money by any means possible . . . one avenue of making money is true never ending Wars . . .this never ending war is known as the War on Terror.
 
Follow the money  . . . MILITARY INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX generates a lot of money for the american economy . . . cus it allows the US to print more fiat money that is then used to finance more and more wars . . .

- US knows about the ideology of Islam . . . infact my underrstanding is that they are counting on Islam behaving true to type . . .i.e. they actually expect their former informants and trainees to turn against them.

- Without 911 there would be no Patriot Act . . . hence not only is the so called War on Terror meant for military industrial complex profits, it is also meant for stimulating policy changes in the US/West.

Ask yourself the question, a British national was also guilty of the same crime committed by the Northern Nigerian muslim guy . . . yet did you see US labelling Britain as a terrorrist country . The reason is simple, cus there is an agenda against Nigeria be it economic or socio-political.

I am sure most people would not even know that Ghana also had a recent citizen involved in terrorism, guess what Ghana is not labelled as Terrorist state, cus US has an favourable interest in Ghana . . .

. . . FROM THE ECONOMIC ANGLE ALONE, AFGHANISTAN IS A MAJOR OIL PIPELINE ROUTE . . . hence do not for one minute even make the mistake of thinking US is in Afghanistan cus of terrorists . . .

US is in Afghanistan not to win a war on terror instead they are there to wage a war on terror  (two different things). . .

Closing their embassies won't stop Al Qaeda from striking
They just have to pray.

they said its for security reason