Turkey’s Yemen Embassy on ‘red alert’ following closures

ANKARA – Hürriyet

A general view shows the compound of the U.S. embassy in Sanaa August 7, 2013. REUTERS photo

Turkey’s Yemen Embassy is on “red alert” after the United States took the unusual step of closing some diplomatic missions in the Muslim world and both Washington and London pulled diplomatic personnel out of Sanaa Aug. 6, citing intelligence reports of an imminent attack by al-Qaeda.

The number of personnel in the special operations team was increased but the closure of the embassy was not imminent, daily Hürriyet has reported.

The United States closed some 25 diplomatic missions in the Muslim world on Aug. 4, and then extended the closure for a week at 19 of them, in response to what it said was a credible and imminent threat of a major al-Qaeda attack. Both Washington and London pulled diplomatic personnel out of the Yemeni capital city of Sanaa on Aug. 6 citing intelligence reports. The Netherlands late Aug. 7 became the latest Western power to close its embassy in Yemen, citing “information that several western countries are potential targets of an upcoming terrorist attack.” An intercepted conference call between al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri and top operatives was reportedly the trigger for the U.S. embassy closures.