<%@LANGUAGE="VBSCRIPT" CODEPAGE="1252"%> WorldTribune.com: Mobile — Out of Yemen: UN, U.S. pulling out non-essential staff

Out of Yemen: UN, U.S. pulling out non-essential staff

Tuesday, April 22, 2008 Free Headline Alerts

CAIRO — The United Nations has reduced its presence in Yemen due to the increased profile of Al Qaida.

Officials said the UN closed several offices in Yemen in April in wake of attacks on a Western compound in Sanaa. They said the UN also placed walls of concrete around its headquarters in Sanaa to prevent rocket strikes.

"UN staffers have been leaving Yemen amid an increasing threat to their safety," a UN official said.

On March 20, Al Qaida fired three mortars toward the U.S. embassy in Sanaa. The mortars missed the embassy and struck a girls high school. Two people were killed.

In wake of the Al Qaida strike, officials said, the UN conducted a review of its presence in Yemen and withdrew many non-essential staffers. They said UN offices were closed in Yemen after rockets slammed into a Western compound in early April.

Yemeni troops have been deployed around the headquarters of the UN High Commission for Refugees in Sanaa. Three-meter blast walls as well as sandbags were placed around the compound.

The U.S. embassy has also withdrawn non-essential staffers. The British embassy was said to have reduced its presence in Yemen as well.

   WorldTribune Home