Foreign company closes over al-Qaeda threats

The Canadian Nexen Company closed its headquarters in the capital Sana’a  Friday following threats from al Qaeda.
 
Nexen has given leave to their employees until further notice, noting that the production and its facilities in al-Masila, Hadramout province won’t be influenced by the closure of the headquarters in Sana’a, according to sources at the company.
 
Hunt company and Yemen Liquefied Natural Gas(LNG)Company confirmed they have not closed any of their headquarters, that they are functioning normally and did not receive any threats.
 
Director of Public Relations in the Oil Ministry, Arif Muharram, expects Nexen to reopen its office in Sana’a soon. “Al Qaeda often issues such threats but it does not represent such a real threat that calls for Canadian Nexen or other oil companies operating in our country to close,” Muharram said,
 
adding that the capital Sana’a is more secure than many capitals in the world, including U.S. and European capitals and that image of Yemen is distorted by the press.
 
In a similar context, The U.S. Embassy in Sana’a suspended earlier this week all non-essential travel outside of Sana’a for Embassy personnel as a result of continuing threats from al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) and its affiliates, said a statement posted on the embassy website.
 
“American citizens traveling to or residing in Yemen should maintain a sense of heightened vigilance. We encourage American citizens to be especially aware of their security and surroundings,” the statement said.
 
The Embassy advised its personnel to avoid places frequented by foreigners, hotels, large cultural events or gatherings without a visible security presence.
 
Foreign interests in Yemen have been targeted sporadically by al Qaeda’s offshoot in Yemen since its emergence in late 2000.

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