SANAA, Jan 3, (Agencies): The United States and Britain promptly closed their embassies in Yemen on Sunday after threats from an  al-Qaeda offshoot, while vowing to fight Yemeni extremists linked to a failed US airliner bombing.
US President Barack Obama on Saturday accused the Yemen-based  al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, or AQAP, of arming and training a Nigerian suspect who targetted a Detroit-bound Northwest Airlines jet on Christmas Day.
AQAP claimed responsibility for the foiled attack and called for strikes on embassies in Yemen.
“There are indications that  al-Qaeda is planning to carry out an attack against (a) target inside of Sanaa, possibly our embassy,” US Homeland Security and Counterterrorism Adviser John Brennan said Sunday.

“So the decision was made to close the embassy. We’re working very closely with the Yemeni government on taking the proper security precautions,” the White House adviser said on CNN.
Earlier the US embassy posted a statement on its website saying the closure was “in response to ongoing threats by  al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula... to attack American interests in Yemen.”
Britain followed suit, with a spokeswoman for the Foreign Office in London confirming its Sanaa embassy had been closed “for security reasons.”
A Yemeni government official earlier told AFP the British embassy was closed “for security reasons, and out of fear of possible  al-Qaeda reactions.” But he stressed there were “no direct  al-Qaeda threats.”
Spain meanwhile decided to restrict public access to its Sanaa embassy for security reasons, a diplomatic source said after the online edition of El Mundo newspaper reported the mission would close on Monday and Tuesday.

“The Spanish embassy in Yemen remains open and operational, but access is restricted for security reasons,” the Spanish source told AFP.
Fears grew after AQAP urged Muslims on Monday to conduct an “all out war” against Western targets in the impoverished Arabian Peninsula country.
“We call upon every Muslim who cares about his religion and doctrine to assist in expelling the apostasies from the Arabian Peninsula, by killing every crusader who works at their embassies or other places, declare it an all-out war against every crusader on Mohammad’s peninsula on land, air and sea,” it said in a statement.
London and Washington meanwhile agreed to fund Yemen’s special Counter-Terrorism Unit  — a special force which in the past has received US training and assistance.
Brennan described the move as a “determined and concerted effort” but stressed Washington will not open up a new front in Yemen by sending in troops to help the authorities battle Islamist militants.
“We’re not going to let  al-Qaeda continue to make gains in Yemen because we need to take whatever steps necessary to protect our citizens there as well as abroad,” he told Fox News.
He also hailed the Yemeni government for making “real progress” against  al-Qaeda and said Washington was “providing everything they’ve asked for.”
“In the past month,  al-Qaeda has take a number of hits. A number of  al-Qaeda leaders in Yemen are no longer with us,” Brennan said.
Yemeni forces launched raids on suspected  al-Qaeda targets on December 17 and 24, killing more than 60 Islamist militants. A defence ministry newspaper said a plot to bomb the British embassy was also foiled.

Britain is due to host an international meeting on combating extremism in Yemen on January 28.
“Yemen has been recognised, like Somalia, to be one of the areas where we’ve got to not only keep an eye on but we’ve got to do more,” British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said.
Yemen  — the ancestral homeland of  al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden  — is grappling with insurgents in the north and the south and has been rocked by several deadly anti-Western attacks.
Nineteen people were killed in a car bomb attack outside the US embassy in September 2008. In October 2000, 17 US military personnel were killed in a  al-Qaeda suicide attack on the USS Cole destroyer in southern Yemen.
The government has welcomed US and British help to fight extremism.
“Any assistance provided to Yemen’s counter-terrorism force will be most welcome,” a government official told AFP.

Led
Recent attacks on al-Qaeda positions in Yemen, including cruise missile strikes, were led by the United States according to a CBS television report Saturday.
The channel quoted Sebastian Gorka, a “US special operations expert who trains Yemeni officers,” as saying the United States had led the recent ground and air assaults.
“That was very much something executed by the United States, but with heavy support by the Yemeni government,” Gorka said.
“It was cruise missile strikes in combination with military units on the ground.”
The report comes after President Barack Obama earlier blamed al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula for arming and training a young Nigerian man who tried to blow up a US airliner on Christmas Day.
The US leader also vowed to hit back at those behind the attack, as his administration faces criticism for failing to prevent the Dec 25 attack.

“Training camps have been struck; leaders eliminated; plots disrupted,” he said in a weekly radio address. “And all those involved in the attempted act of terrorism on Christmas must know: you too will be held to account.”
Yemeni forces launched raids on suspected al-Qaeda targets on Dec 17 and 24, killing more than 60 Islamist militants.
Several others were also wounded in clashes this week in a western province of the impoverished Arabian peninsula state which lies north of Somalia across the Gulf of Aden.
Fund
Britain and the United States are assisting a counterterrorism police unit in Yemen amid fears of an increasing threat of international terrorism emanating from the country, the British government said Sunday.
Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s office said that he and President Barack Obama agreed to “intensify joint US-UK work to tackle the emerging terrorist threat from both Yemen and Somalia” in the wake of the failed Detroit terror plot.
“Amongst the initiatives the PM has agreed with President Obama is US-UK funding for a special counter-terrorism police unit in Yemen,” the statement said.
The US embassy in Yemen closed on Sunday, citing ongoing threats by the al-Qaeda branch that has been linked to the failed Christmas Day bombing attempt of a US airliner headed to Detroit. The embassy would not say if there was a specific threat.

The confrontation with the terrorist group’s branch in Yemen, at the tip of the Arabian Peninsula, has gained new urgency since the 23-year-old Nigerian accused in the attack, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, told US investigators he received training and instructions from al-Qaeda operatives in Yemen. President Barack Obama said Saturday that al-Qaeda’s branch in Yemen was behind the attempt.
Downing Street said that Britain is already helping to train Yemeni counter-terrorism officials, but a UK government spokeswoman said this is the first time the counter-terrorism police units have been confirmed.
In Washington, a senior administration official said American and British forces already provide the Yemeni police counterterrorism assistance, and that he’s unaware of any new joint effort that is ready to be announced. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity in order to discuss sensitive matters.
Asked to clarify, the UK government spokeswoman said the initiatives in Yemen are part of ongoing work between the UK and the US and that the cost of the counterterrorism police unit will be met by existing funding commitments to Yemen.
The spokeswoman said Britain is forecast to give more than £100 million ($161 million) to Yemen in 2011.

The spokeswoman, speaking on condition on anonymity in line with UK government policy, was unable to say how long Britain had been working on initiatives in Yemen.
Downing Street also said in its statement the prime minister and president believe that in Somalia “a larger peacekeeping force is required and will support this at the UN Security Council.”
The statement said Britain and the US would support Yemen’s coast guard operation. Pirates operating in the waters between Somalia and Yemen have seized four ships in the past week.
Brown called last week for a high-level international meeting later this month to devise ways to counter radicalization in Yemen.
Downing Street said the government of Yemen had been consulted over the decision to boost the country’s coast guard and police operations.
The White House said Washington stands ready to work with allies to fight extremism. The official welcomed Brown’s move earlier to lead an international conference on Jan 28 to devise ways to counter radicalization in the country, the poorest in the Arab world.