Yemen/US/France - Qaeda threats

Yemen embassies reopen, Obama criticises US intelligence

Article published on the 2010-01-06 Latest update 2010-01-06 06:09 TU

A Yemeni police officer outside the Sanaa International Airport
(Photo: Reuters/Ahmed Jadallah)

The French embassy in the Yemeni capital Sanaa reopened Wednesday after being closed for two days due to the threat of terrorist attacks. The British embassy also reopened, after being closed for three days, and the US embassy reopened Tuesday, as President Obama slammed his country’s intelligence agencies for missing threats in the region and not anticipating a failed Christmas Day attack on a US airliner.

"It is increasingly clear that intelligence was not fully analyzed or fully leveraged," Obama said in a televised statement after meeting with intelligence chiefs and national security aides at the White House.

Two investigations are underway into the attempt by a Nigerian man to blow up a plane as it approached Detroit on 25 December.

"The bottom line is this: the US government had sufficient information to have uncovered this plot and potentially disrupt the Christmas Day attack, but our intelligence community failed to connect those dots," he said, adding that he would not tolerate the lapses, and that he would find out why.

He also said US intelligence missed what he called “red flags” signalling that Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula was planning attacks in both Yemen and the United States.

Embassies in Yemen had been closed in response to threats by the group.

The US embassy reopened Tuesday, with a statement on its website saying that Yemeni security forces had addressed concerns north of the capital, apparently referring to an Yemeni police operation Monday in Arhab in which two suspected Al-Qaeda members were killed and three others wounded.

According to a diplomat, the French embassy reopened Wednesday, and a statement on the British embassy’s website said it too reopened, though consular services remained closed.