Saudi Arabia pulls embassy staff from Yemen

The move comes as Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula scores fresh victories amid the unrest.

Yemeni supporters of the separatist Southern Movement take part in a demonstration following Friday prayers on February 13, 2015 in the southern city of Aden. AFP Photo/STR

SANAA // Saudi Arabia, Germany and Italy became the latest countries to withdraw embassy staff from Yemen on Friday as an exodus of foreign diplomats gathered pace due to growing insecurity.

Long on the front line of the war against Al Qaeda, Yemen has descended into chaos since Shiite militiamen, known as Houthis, seized Sanaa in September and ousted the government last week.

Riyadh, Berlin and Rome said they had temporarily closed their missions in the capital Sanaa.

“Due to the deteriorating security and political situation in the Yemeni capital, Saudi Arabia has suspended all embassy operations in Sanaa and evacuated all its staff,” said the Saudi foreign ministry.

The kingdom, Yemen’s northern neighbour, is the first Arab country to evacuate embassy staff from Sanaa.

The United States, Britain and France have rushed to close their embassies over security fears, with US staff destroying top-secret documents and sensitive equipment before pulling out Wednesday.

The Netherlands followed suit the next day.

The Houthis said Western powers had no reason to shut their embassies, insisting security was solid in the capital.

“The situation is anything but stable,” said a German foreign ministry spokeswoman, calling the removal of the government by the Shiite militiamen “unacceptable, dangerous and with consequences for the region”.

“We decided yesterday to temporarily close the embassy in Sanaa and the personnel departed the country early this morning,” she said.

The Italian foreign ministry said: “We hope mediation efforts led by UN envoy Jamal Benomar will create security conditions allowing a return of diplomatic personnel to Yemen as soon as possible”.

The latest embassy closures came a day after remarks by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, who warned Yemen was falling apart.

“Let me be clear: Yemen is collapsing before our eyes. We cannot stand by and watch,” Mr Ban told the UN Security Council in New York.

He addressed the Security Council following talks with Saudi King Salman last weekend in Riyadh, where the UN chief said Western-backed president Abdrabu Mansur Hadi must be restored to power.

Foreign ministers from the six-state Gulf Cooperation Council are to meet in Riyadh on Saturday, likely about Yemen.

The instability has been seized upon by Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), which is expanding its foothold across the country.

On Friday, Al Qaeda suspects shot dead a Yemeni military pilot in the south as troops attacked by the militants the previous day handed their weapons to tribes, local government officials said.

“Gunmen on a motorbike opened fire at air force Colonel Mahmoud Al Naqib, killing him instantly,” an official in the southern province of Lahij said, adding that the assailants fled.

AQAP fighters also overran an army camp in Shabwa province on Thursday, killing 12 people and seizing a large quantity of armour and heavy weaponry.

The militants later handed back control of the camp following tribal mediation but kept the weapons, local government officials said.

Since seizing Sanaa, the Houthis have pressed into central and southern provinces and clashed regularly with AQAP and local Sunni tribes.

“Either the country will descend into civil war and disintegration, or the country will find a way to put the transition back on track,” UN special envoy Mr Benomar told the Security Council by video link from Sanaa.

Following closed-door consultations in New York, Britain said it would work with Jordan on a resolution to outline the Security Council’s stance on Yemen.

* Agence France-Presse