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The UK and US embassies in Yemen have been closed because of an active threat from al Qaeda.
The move comes after Britain and America said they would jointly fund a counter-terrorism unit in Yemen, where suspected Christmas Day airline attacker Umar Farouk Abdul Mutallab is thought to have been radicalised.
President Barack Obama's top counter-terrorism adviser, John Brennan, said the US would not "take any chances" with the lives of American diplomats and others at the embassy in Yemen's capital, Sana'a.
A Foreign Office spokeswoman said the British embassy was closed on Sunday "for security reasons" and a decision would be taken later as to whether it would reopen on Monday.
This is a new type of threat and it is from a new source, which is obviously Yemen.
Gordon Brown talks about the failed Detroit attack
A statement from the US embassy said it was closing: "... in response to ongoing threats by al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula to attack American interests in Yemen."
Yemeni staff at the US embassy told reporters they had been asked to stay in their homes.
American officials have said the US was looking at ways to expand military and intelligence co-operation with the Yemeni government to increase pressure on al Qaeda in the region.
Mutallab, 23, attempted and failed to bomb a US aircraft carrying 300 people to Detroit on Christmas Day.
He is believed to have received training from the militant group in Yemen.
Al Qaeda said the attempted bombing was in retaliation to US involvement in Yemen and its military support for the Yemeni government, which launched an offensive against the Islamist group.
The announcement came after British Prime Minister Gordon Brown called a summit of world leaders in London later this month to discuss Yemen.
Britain and the US will also push for more UN intervention to tackle radical Islamic groups in
UK And US Embassies In Yemen Closed As Britain And America Unite To Tackle Terrorism In Gulf State | World News | Sky News
The move comes after Britain and America said they would jointly fund a counter-terrorism unit in Yemen, where suspected Christmas Day airline attacker Umar Farouk Abdul Mutallab is thought to have been radicalised.
President Barack Obama's top counter-terrorism adviser, John Brennan, said the US would not "take any chances" with the lives of American diplomats and others at the embassy in Yemen's capital, Sana'a.
A Foreign Office spokeswoman said the British embassy was closed on Sunday "for security reasons" and a decision would be taken later as to whether it would reopen on Monday.
This is a new type of threat and it is from a new source, which is obviously Yemen.
Gordon Brown talks about the failed Detroit attack
A statement from the US embassy said it was closing: "... in response to ongoing threats by al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula to attack American interests in Yemen."
Yemeni staff at the US embassy told reporters they had been asked to stay in their homes.
American officials have said the US was looking at ways to expand military and intelligence co-operation with the Yemeni government to increase pressure on al Qaeda in the region.
Mutallab, 23, attempted and failed to bomb a US aircraft carrying 300 people to Detroit on Christmas Day.
He is believed to have received training from the militant group in Yemen.
Al Qaeda said the attempted bombing was in retaliation to US involvement in Yemen and its military support for the Yemeni government, which launched an offensive against the Islamist group.
The announcement came after British Prime Minister Gordon Brown called a summit of world leaders in London later this month to discuss Yemen.
Britain and the US will also push for more UN intervention to tackle radical Islamic groups in
UK And US Embassies In Yemen Closed As Britain And America Unite To Tackle Terrorism In Gulf State | World News | Sky News
