US pulls out embassy staff from Sudan, Tunisia, Al Qaeda calls for fresh attacks

But yesterday, the Yemenis Parliament, in a resolution, demanded the expulsion of the marine unit; while Sudan outrightly rejected the US request to send 50 marines to the country.

The Yemenis Parliament demanded the expulsion of the US marine unit that arrived in the country, urging the government to protect embassies and secure the ambassadors and diplomats' lives, state-run SANAA news agency reported.

According to Sudan's state-run news agency SUNA, the country's Foreign Minister Ali Karti “turned down” the US State Department request of sending marines to the country.

“We have requested additional security precautions as a result of ... damage to our embassy,” State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland, said adding the government of Sudan has recommitted itself both publicly and privately to continue to protect the US embassy, as it is obligated to do under the Vienna Convention.

“We are continuing to monitor the situation closely to ensure we have what we need to protect our people and facility,” Nuland said in a statement.

In an interview to the Foreign Policy magazine, Defence Secretary Leon Panetta said that the US is “positioning military forces” so that it can respond to unrest in as many as 17 or 18 places that the Pentagon is “paying particular attention to.

“We have to be prepared in the event that these demonstrations get out of control,” Panetta said, adding that the anti-Islam movie was at the heart of other demonstrations.

“It's something that's under assessment and under investigation, to determine just exactly what happened here,” he said.

On Friday, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had warned that the US would act to protect its diplomatic facilities if countries did not prevent violence and seek justice for attacks.