US, UK pull out staff from Yemen as drone strike kills 4

A suspected US drone killed four alleged al-Qaeda members in Yemen on Tuesday, as the embassies of the US and UK evacuated staff amid reports of a threatened attack by al-Qaeda that has led to temporary shutdowns of 19 American diplomatic posts across the Muslim regions.

Yemeni officials have suggested that there were al-Qaeda threats to multiple potential targets in the Arabian Peninsula country in recent days, including foreign installations and government offices in the capital Sana'a as well as to the strategic Bab al-Mandeb straits at the entrance to the Red Sea to the south.

It is not clear if these reports are the same as the intelligence that led to the embassy shutdowns, reportedly instigated by an intercepted message between al-Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri and his deputy in Yemen about plans for a major terror attack.

The state department on Tuesday ordered non-essential personnel at the US embassy in Yemen to leave the country. The department said in a travel warning that it had ordered the departure of non-emergency US government personnel from Yemen ''due to the continued potential for terrorist attacks'' and said US citizens in Yemen should leave immediately because of an ''extremely high'' security threat level.

Britain's Foreign Office also said it has evacuated all staff from its embassy in Yemen due to increased security concerns. The Foreign Office said the British embassy staff were ''temporarily withdrawn to the UK'' on Tuesday. It declined to comment further.

Meanwhile, there has been a rise in apparent US drone strikes against al-Qaeda leaders. The attack on Tuesday was the fourth in two weeks.

Yemen officials said the drone fired a missile at a car carrying four men in the al-Arqeen district of Marib province, setting it on fire and killing all of them. They believed that one of the dead is Saleh Jouti, a senior al-Qaeda member.

Yemeni authorities released the names of 25 wanted al-Qaeda suspects on Monday, saying they were planning terrorist attacks in Sana'a and other cities across the country.

A statement from Yemen's interior ministry said the suspects were going to target foreign offices and organisations, as well as Yemeni government installations in the impoverished Arab country. It said security was beefed up around embassies, ports, airports, oil installations and power stations.

Officials said potential US targets in Sana'a could include the embassy and other buildings used by the US to house staff, as well as a military camp a few kilometres outside the capital used by US aircraft.