Britain reopens embassy in Yemen

The British embassy in Yemen was reopened today after being closed for nearly two weeks over worldwide terror threats from Al Qaeda.
"British Embassy #Yemen open as normal from Sunday 18 August. Apologies for the brief hiatus," British ambassador to Yemen Jane Marriott tweeted.
On August 6, the Foreign Office said that its embassy staff in Sanaa had been sent home after conversation between Al Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri and the group's head in Yemen Nasser al-Wuhayshi about an attack was reportedly intercepted.
The US also evacuated diplomatic personnel from Yemen and ordered the closure of nearly 22 embassies across the Middle East and North Africa after the intercepted message revealed one of the most serious plots against American and Western interests since the attacks on September 11, 2001.

Though Yemen welcomed the re-opening of the embassy, the country's foreign minister Abu Bakr al Qirbi was critical of the closures.
"We feel that closure of the embassies plays into the hands of terrorists. It disturbs people's lives, it affects relations between countries and this is one of the objectives of terrorism," he told the BBC.

Marriot said she could not comment on the original threat but the UK had to "give the highest priority to the safety and security of all our staff".
The alert was sparked after the secret plans discussed between Al al-Zawahiri and al-Wuhayshi were picked up by US intelligence officials, according to US media.

Unprecedented security measures were taken in Sanaa, which saw the British embassy close on August 5 and hundreds of armoured vehicles deployed.
Yemen is the base of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, which has recently suffered a series of setbacks after the military launched an offensive in June with the help of US forces.