US to close Embassy in Yemen: Official confirms

US ambassador would leave by Wednesday; Turkish or Algerian embassies in Sanaa may look after US interests in Yemen

SANAA/ WASHINGTON: A US official in Washington on Tuesday confirmed that the American Embassy in Yemen was shutting down for an unidentified period and personnel were being evacuated.

The official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, did not give a date for the closure but Yemeni employees at the US embassy in Sanaa earlier said that the US ambassador would leave by Wednesday and that the ambassador had informed staff that the mission is closing down.

The move comes amid deepening turmoil since the resignation of President Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi and his government last month.

The employees added that the ambassador informed them that Washington may ask the Turkish or Algerian embassies in Sanaa to look after US interests in the country while the embassy was closed.