Diplomats quit crisis-hit Yemen

Western governments evacuated their diplomats from Yemen yesterday as conflict deepened in the impoverished Saudi neighbour which has long been on the front line of the war against al-Qaeda.

Exactly four years after the start of Arab Spring-inspired protests that forced veteran strongman Ali Abdullah Saleh from power, his Western-backed successor is under effective house arrest, after being ousted by Shia militia last week.

The United Nations has demanded his reinstatement but its efforts to broker a deal between the militiamen and their opponents have made no headway and the Security Council was to meet later yesterday to decide on what to do next.

The Huthi militia, which entered the capital unopposed last September, seized more territory in the Sunni-majority country this week, sparking fears of a backlash from its feared al-Qaeda branch.

Washington said the "deteriorating security situation" in the capital Sanaa had triggered its decision to close its embassy indefinitely.

"On February 11... US Embassy Sanaa American staff were relocated out of the country," a State Department travel warning said.

"The Department urges US citizens to defer travel to Yemen and those US citizens currently living in Yemen to depart."

Britain too evacuated its diplomats. France also called on its 100 or so citizens in Yemen to leave the country and said it would close its embassy starting from February 13 over mounting security fears.

The Arab Spring protests of 2011 had raised hopes of democratic reform after more than three decades of ironfisted rule by Saleh.