US diplomats in hasty Yemen evacuation
The United States, Britain and France rushed to close their embassies over security fears in Yemen on Wednesday, with US staff destroying top-secret documents and abandoning vehicles at the airport. Long on the front line of the US war against Al-Qaeda, Yemen has descended into chaos since the militia, known as Huthis, seized the capital Sanaa in September and ousted the parliament last week. The United Nations has demanded the reinstatement of the Western-backed leader Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi — who resigned last month and is under effective house arrest — but its efforts to broker a deal have failed so far. After weeks of internal deliberations and drawing down staff, Washington finally closed its Sanaa embassy over the “deteriorating security situation,” evacuating staff to Muscat late Tuesday on a private Omani jet.