The United States is re-opening its embassy in Yemen, following Yemeni
military action on possible al-Qaida security threats against the
embassy.
The U.S. mission in Sanaa says Yemeni forces had addressed a security
concern by conducting a counterterrorism operation Monday north of the
capital.
Yemen says its forces killed two al-Qaida members in the operation (in the region of Arhab).
On Tuesday, Yemeni officials announced the arrest of five suspected
al-Qaida members in Sanaa and the western region of Hodeida.
Yemen's government says it has sent thousands of troops to three provinces (Arhab, Jawf and Ma'arib) in an ongoing offensive against al-Qaida.
The United States, Britain and France closed their embassies in Sanaa
due to warnings of a possible al-Qaida attack. Britain and France have
said their embassies are now operational but off-limits to the public.
The editor (Hakim Almasmari) of a Yemeni newspaper (the Yemen Post) told
VOA that local residents believe the two people killed in Yemen's
counterterrorism operation Monday had no ties to al-Qaida.
On Monday, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Yemen's
instability is a threat to regional and global security. Yemen's
government has been fighting secessionist southern rebels, Shi'ite
fighters along the Saudi border, and the growing presence of al-Qaida
militants.
Yemen-based Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula has claimed
responsibility for a Nigerian man's unsuccessful attempt to bomb a
U.S.-bound airplane on Christmas Day (December 25).
The Nigerian man, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, has told U.S. investigators he was trained by al-Qaida operatives in Yemen.