US ORDERS SOME DIPLOMATS TO LEAVE SAUDI ARABIA

The US State Department said on Wednesday that it had ordered non-essential staff at its embassy in Riyadh and satellite consulates to leave Saudi Arabia. It also ordered the families of US government employees to depart. An attack on a Saudi airport reportedly killed one person and injured eight. The department cited attacks by Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels on civilian airports and other infrastructure. In a travel alert, it warned: “The hostilities have the potential to escalate rapidly beyond that immediate area.”

Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport had been closed since 10 October following an attack, which the Houthis have acknowledged carrying out. The Houthis claimed, without providing evidence, that Saudi Arabia had used the airport to supply military equipment to government forces. Saudi aviation authorities told airlines they could resume operations with prior permission two days before Wednesday’s flights. Aircraft operated by a limited number of Saudi airlines, including Saudia and FlyNas, took off and landed there on Wednesday. Lufthansa and Air France had cancelled flights to Riyadh through mid-November.

The US Embassy in Riyadh suffered severe damage at the start of the Iran war and had operated with a skeleton staff for months. Some diplomats had returned in recent months. Recent US travel alerts said government personnel needed special permission to use any Saudi airport. The State Department said US embassies in other Gulf countries would make temporary staffing changes; its departure order applied only to Saudi Arabia.