WikiLeaks: Yemen nuclear material was unsecured

A secret U.S. diplomatic cable released by the Wikileaks website reveals that for at least a week a facility housing radioactive material in Yemen was completely unprotected.

The cable, dated Jan. 9, cites an unnamed Yemeni official expressing concern to a U.S. embassy official about the storage facility after the lone guard was removed and the closed circuit camera had been broken for months.

Yemen's foreign minister told U.S. officials a week later that the material had been moved to Syria, according to the cable which was published Monday by the website of Britain's Guardian newspaper.

The cable said the material was used by local universities for agricultural research, Sanaa hospital and by international oil companies.

Yemen is home to a particularly active branch of al-Qaida.