Yemeni police stand guard outside the French Embassy in Sanaâ„¢a on September 20, 2012.
French President Francois Hollande has announced plans to close the French Embassy in Yemen for Å“several days” over security reasons following similar moves by other European countries.
“We are informed directly and indirectly of threats concerning our installations overseas and even our nationals, threats coming from al-Qaeda,” Hollande said in a statement on Saturday.
“I have already decided to close the French Embassy in Yemen because there we have elements suggesting extremely serious threats…. So this embassy will be closed for several days,” he added.
A spokesman for Foreign Ministry earlier said that the French Embassy would be closed only on Sunday and Monday.
It came after Britain and Germany took similar moves that followed a US decision to close embassies in Arab and other countries over security fears.
Earlier in the day, the international police agency, Interpol, issued a global security alert, asking member states to increase vigilance against attacks after a series of jail breaks in Libya, Iraq and Pakistan.
On July 31, jail breaks occurred in Pakistan. Some 500 inmates escaped from Iraqâ„¢s Abu Ghraib prison on July 22. In a similar incident, 1,100 prisoners broke out of a prison in the Libyan city of Benghazi on July 27.
On Friday, the UK Foreign Office announced that its embassy in Sanaâ„¢a will be closed on Sunday and Monday and that a number of personnel had been withdrawn from the Yemeni capital due to increased security fears.
On Thursday, the US State Department Å“instructed certain US embassies and consulates to remain closed or to suspend operations on Sunday, August 4.”
The State Department came under fire last year after the US Consulate in the Libyan city of Benghazi was attacked on September 11, leading to the death of four Americans, including Ambassador Chris Stevens.
SAB/SS
Republished from: Press TV