British Embassy in Yemen to open Sunday

SANAA, Yemen, Aug. 16 (UPI) -- The British Embassy in Yemen will open its doors for regular consular services starting Sunday, the British ambassador said Friday.

The U.S. State Department issued a regional threat advisory in early August warning its national security interests in the Middle East and North Africa may be the target of an al-Qaida attack.

The U.S. Embassy in Sanaa issued an Aug. 11 advisory saying consular services were suspended and the embassy was closed. The State Department said the embassy may re-open "soon."

British Ambassador to Yemen Jane Marriott used her official Twitter account to announce the embassy would be "open as normal" starting Sunday.

"Apologies for the brief hiatus," her Friday message said.

The Yemeni government downplayed the severity of the threat, saying it was responding with a heightened level of security. The Defense Ministry said Tuesday terrorist threats in Yemen were "limited."

Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula called for more homegrown attacks on the United States in a six-minute video posted online in early June. The al-Qaida franchise, which counts Yemen as its base of operations, has been linked to terrorist plots on the United States and Europe.

U.S. Army Maj. Nidal Hasan, who faces charges in a military court for killing 13 people at the Fort Hood military base in 2009, said he was inspired by AQAP.