British embassy in Yemen reopens after security concerns

Britain will reopen its embassy in the Yemeni capital of Sana’a on Sunday, the Foreign Office has said in a statement, following its 12-day closure over security concerns.

“British Embassy #Yemen open as normal from Sunday 18 August. Apologies for the brief hiatus,” British Ambassador Jane Marriott tweeted, according to a Reuters news agency report.

On August 6, the Foreign Office announced it had withdrawn all staff from the embassy due to a high threat of kidnapping, following the unprecedented closure of U.S. diplomatic missions across the Middle East and North Africa.

The closures came after warnings in early August of a possible militant attack in the region. It reopened them a few days later except for the embassy in Sana’a.

Yemen, one of the poorest Arab countries, is the base for al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), one of the most active branches of the network founded by Osama bin Laden, and militants have launched attacks from there against the West.

(With Reuters)