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U.S. Embassy in Yemen Targeted for Attacks: Officials
WASHINGTON, June 18 (Islam Online & News Agencies) - Several U.S. administration officials told Cable News Network Monday that the U.S. embassy in Yemen was "dangerously close" to being attacked.
"We narrowly dodged a serious attack," said one U.S. official on Monday. The threat was "imminent, specific and credible," he added. "This was a group planning something," said another senior State Department official.
Due to the high level of risk for U.S. citizens, the State Department issued a travel warning for Yemen last week and ordered all non-essential U.S. embassy employees to return to the United States. It also closed the embassy in Sana'a, Yemen's capital, where it remains closed.
According to U.S. officials, the group planning to attack the embassy in Sana'a had hand grenades and has since been arrested by local authorities. But the details about this group, its members and the exact nature of the "imminent" embassy attack are still "unclear" and under investigation.
Administration sources also told CNN that the FBI withdrew, for the first time, all of its investigators from Yemen on Sunday, as a result of these latest threats, believing there were credible threats to its employees.
One U.S. official explained that the FBI would not return until the Yemeni authorities give them a green light that the security situation is stable.
The FBI has opened a field office in Yemen since the attack on the USS Cole last year, to facilitate its investigations. This month, it moved its office from Aden to Sana'a.
Last year's attack against the USS Cole killed 17 sailors. The USS Cole was refueling in the port of Aden when a small harbor skiff pulled alongside the Navy destroyer and detonated explosives that killed the 17 sailors, injured 39 others and nearly sank the ship.
The report comes as the U.S. State Department was downplaying reports of a plot, foiled by Indian police, to attack the U.S. Embassy in New Delhi.
Last week the State Department said Americans have been victims of kidnappings in Yemen in 1999 and 2000.
Osama Bin Laden, a Saudi-born millionaire who is charged by the United States with masterminding the 1998 bombings of two U.S. embassies in East Africa that killed more than 220 people, is also accused of using Yemen as a springboard for some of his military operations.
Bin Laden says he wants to see the withdrawal of all U.S. troops from Muslim and Arab land. His alleged associates have previously said bin Laden considered the extensive U.S. military presence in the Arab Gulf as an "occupation."
Late last month American military forces were reportedly on high alert in Aden, due to possible terrorist attacks, according to Pentagon officials.
ABCNEWS reported earlier last week that intelligence sources said there was a "serious and specific" terrorist threat to the few Americans who are still in Yemen's port of Aden.
U.S. officials said several dozen Americans on the ground, including Justice Department personnel investigating the bombing from a hotel in Aden, have been ordered to pack their bags and be prepared to leave.
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