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US embassy “reopens” in Yemen

The United States’ embassy in Yemen has reopened two days after its closure over what it termed as threats from al-Qaeda.

“We are reopened,” a US embassy official told Reuters on Tuesday.

Britain and France, which had followed Washington’s lead in shutting down their embassies have also resumed operations but remained closed to the public.

A number of other countries such as Spain, Italy and Japan had also closed their doors to the public in Yemen, due to alleged security fears.

The closures came after US President Barack Obama accused the Yemen-based al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula of arming and training a Nigerian of allegedly trying to blow up a Detroit-bound Northwest Airlines jet on Christmas Day.

Following the botched attack, Washington and London struck a deal to fund a counter-terrorism police unit in Yemen to tackle what they called the rising threat from the country.

Also on Tuesday, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called insecurity in Yemen a regional and global threat, in comments which show the White House is preparing grounds for a new war in the Middle East.

She also said that Washington was working closely with its allies on deciding “the best way forward” to address the security concerns.

The US military presence in Yemen is hardly anything new.

Since the bombing of the USS Cole off the coast of Yemen in 2000, the US has been present in the country, by sending many field operatives to train the Yemeni military and conducting air raids in both the northern and southern parts of the conflict-torn nation.

On December 18, ABC News quoted anonymous administration officials as saying that US Nobel Peace Prize laureate President Barack Obama ordered the US military to launch air strikes on Yemen to take out suspected “terrorists.”

According to Yemeni opposition groups however, the attacks on the northern regions of Amran, Hajjah and Sa’ada only resulted in the deaths of scores of civilians.

The security situation in Yemen is currently in tatters, with northern Yemen witnessing intense fighting since August 2009, when the Yemeni army launched Operation Scorched Earth in an attempt to crush the Houthi fighters in the province of Sa’ada.

In addition to the Yemeni government, Saudi Arabia also pounds the Houthis, using toxic materials such as white phosphorus bombs, the fighters say.

The exact number of civilians killed during the deadly raids is still unknown.

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees estimates that since the beginning of the conflict in 2004, up to 175,000 people have been forced to leave their homes in Sa’ada and take refuge at overcrowded camps set up by the United Nations.

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