US orders citizens out of Yemen over fears of major terrorist attack

 
Bo Wilson6 August 2013

The US state department today ordered its citizens in Yemen to leave immediately because of fears of a major terrorist attack.

At the same time five US drone missiles were said to have killed four suspected al Qaeda members travelling in a car in central Yemen.

The British Government issued the highest possible security alert yesterday for shipping off the coast of Yemen, a major oil route. The Foreign Office advised against all travel to the country. Several European countries have also shut missions in Yemen.

It followed the revelation that intercepted conversations between the head of al Qaeda and his deputy in Yemen led to the sudden closure of 22 American diplomatic missions in the Middle East and Africa.

The internet chatter involved the leader of the Islamist terror group Ayman al-Zawahiri in Pakistan and Nasser al-Wuhayshi. It represented one of the most serious plots since 9/11 and the attacks were thought to be imminent, the New York Times reported.

According to the paper, US officials said it was highly unusual for senior group leaders in Pakistan to discuss operational matters with offshoots including the group in Yemen. But counter-terrorism officials said that in recent weeks Zawahiri has elevated Wuhayshi to the second most important man in the organisation.

Zawahiri succeeded Osama bin Laden as al Qaeda chief, and Wuhayshi is leader of a group called al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.

The paper said that no targets had been singled out in the chatter but US politicians have said it was a huge plot.

BBC correspondent Abdullah Ghorab in the Yemeni capital Sanaa said the city has been experiencing unprecedented security measures, with hundreds of armoured military vehicles deployed to secure the presidential palace, vital infrastructure and Western embassies.

The BBC said that a security source confirmed Yemeni intelligence services had discovered that al Qaeda members had arrived in Sanaa over the past few days from other regions in preparation for a large attack.

The US state department also issued a global travel alert until the end of the month. Some US diplomatic posts were re-opened but Abu Dhabi, Amman, Cairo, Riyadh, Dhahran, Jeddah, Doha, Dubai, Kuwait, Manama, Muscat, Sanaa and Tripoli will remain shut until Saturday.

White House spokesman Jay Carney said he could not be “specific” about the threats. He said: “Our current information suggests that al Qaeda and affiliated organisations continue to plan terrorist attacks both in the region and beyond.

“And our information suggests that they may focus efforts to conduct attacks in the period between now and the end of August.”

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