US reopens Yemen embassy after 'Qaeda terror threat'

WASHINGTON:The US State Department says the US Embassy in Yemen — one of 19 embassies and consulates closed earlier this month because of a terrorist threat — has reopened to provide limited public services.

Most American employees at the U.S. Embassy in Yemen were ordered to leave the country because of the threat, which emanated from al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.

Sanaa was one of 19 US consulates and embassies in the Muslim world that were shut on August 4 amid what American officials said was a threat of an imminent attack.

The other missions had already re-opened, but Yemen -- the home base of the militant faction Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula -- was seen as the epicenter of the threat.

On Aug. 11, the U.S. reopened 18 of the 19 embassies and consulates that were closed for about two weeks in the Middle East and Africa, but the one in Yemen remained closed.

Yemeni authorities have since claimed to have thwarted the alleged plot, and there have been several reports of US drone strikes killing suspected militants.

The reopening on Sunday coincided with announcements that Britain and Germany were also reopening their embassies in the Yemeni capital of Sanaa.

The U.S. Consulate in Lahore, Pakistan, remains closed due to a separate threat.(AP/AFP)