Britain pulls staff from Saudi Arabia

LONDON, June 13 (UPI) -- Britain's Foreign Office announced Sunday it will remove dependents and non-essential staff from its Saudi office, the BBC reported.

The move follows attacks on foreign workers in Saudi Arabia and the claim on an Islamist website that an American had been kidnapped.

Security concerns have also prompted British Airways to instruct crews on flights from London not to stay overnight in Saudi Arabia.

The British ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Sherard Cowper-Coles, said westerners who remain in the country, particularly Britons and Americans, "were duty bound to exercise maximize vigilance."