Yemen evacuations continue amid terror threat

Westerners are leaving Yemen after warnings from their governments. Credit: REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah

Embassy staff are already out, other British nationals have been told to get out of Yemen as fast as they can. If they don't leave now, the Foreign Office said, no one will come and rescue them later.

Both Britain and America are worried about possible Al Qaeda attacks in Yemen, after the interception of a message from the terrorist organisation's high command.

Our International Editor Bill Neely reports:

All western embassies in Yemen are now shut, along with 20 US missions across the Middle East.

According to American sources, al-Qaeda's leader Ayman al-Zawahiri gave a direct order to attack western targets in Yemen.

A spokeswoman for the US State Department told a press conference earlier today that the withdrawal was "not an evacuation, " but a reduction in staffing.