PBS高端访谈:国务院敦促美国公民和政府人员率先离开也门

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　　Americans and other foreigners streamed to the airport in Sanaa after the State Department warned of an extremely high threat level. And at the fortified¹ U.S. Embassy, nonessential staffers were ordered to leave, flown out by the U.S. military.

　　But, in Washington, State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki wouldn't call it an evacuation.

　　JEN PSAKI, State Department: Let me just make clear what this is and what this is not. This is a reduction in staffing. This is -- we still have a presence in Yemen. But -- and we are -- we will continue to evaluate. I don't have any updates on when staff may return.

　　MARGARET WARNER: It was reported that today's order to leave, coming after widespread embassy closings and a worldwide travel alert, was triggered by a communication between al-Qaida's leader, Ayman al-Zawahri, and Nasir al-Wuhayshi, the chief of its affiliate², al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, or AQAP. The Yemeni government objected to today's U.S. order, but did cite specific intercepted³ threats.

　　RAJEH BADI, Yemeni government spokesman (through interpreter): There were attempts to control key cities in Yemen. The plot was planned by al-Qaida for the 27th day of Ramadan. The aim was to control two important ports by dropping in al-Qaida members wearing military uniforms who would pretend to ask for Ramadan tips owed to them. Then they would attack.

　　MARGARET WARNER: AQAP has tried to mount operations outside Yemen, too, the failed 2009 Christmas Day bomber⁴ and the 2010 plot to ship explosives in printer cartridges⁵ to the U.S. The U.S. has launched multiple drone strikes in Yemen, including one today that killed four suspected al-Qaida operative.

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