Intel Warns of Attacks on U.S. Embassy in Yemen

Newsmax:

Intel Warns of Attacks on U.S. Embassy in Yemen

Tuesday, July 14, 2009 9:40 AM

SAN'A, Yemen -- Security was upgraded in Yemen's capital this week after intelligence reports warned of attacks planned against the U.S. Embassy, a senior security official said Tuesday.

The intelligence official said the unconfirmed reports indicated attacks were being planned against the U.S. embassies in Algeria and Yemen.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media, did not reveal the origin of the intelligence.

In the wake of the report, the chief of the intelligence issued directives Monday to beef up security around diplomatic missions in the capital and elsewhere in the country. A copy of the directive was shown to the Associated Press.

Yemen's Interior Ministry also issued a statement Monday in which it said it was beefing up security around foreign diplomatic missions and commercial interests as a "preventive measure" against potential "terrorist attacks."

The move came as a Yemeni court sentenced six al-Qaida militants to death after convicting them of a string of attacks a year earlier, including a deadly assault on the U.S. embassy in September which left 19 people dead.

None of the dead was from the embassy staff.

Ten other militants, including four Syrians and a Saudi, were sentenced to up to 15 years in prison for their involvement in the attacks.

Yemen is a U.S. ally in the global fight against terror, but it has also been the site of numerous high-profile, al-Qaida-linked attacks, including the 2000 bombing of the USS Cole in the Gulf of Aden, which killed 17 American sailors.

Yemen is the ancestral homeland of Osama bin Laden. The government struggles to maintain order but many areas of the severely impoverished country are beyond government control.