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Man opens fire on US embassy
05/12/2006 15:47 - (SA)
Sana'a - Yemeni police arrested an armed man after he opened fire at the US embassy in Sana'a late on Monday, Yemeni interior ministry officials said on Tuesday.
The man, identified as Saleh Mohammad Salim, 25, opened fire from an AK-47 rifle at the gate of the heavily-guarded embassy compound, that also houses the residence of the US ambassador, the officials told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.
Police guarding the embassy shot and wounded the man shortly after he started to open fire at the embassy, the officials said.
The man was rushed to a nearby military hospital. The officials said his motives were not known yet, but they suggested that he was acting personally.
"He is in critical condition and interrogators were not able to question him yet," one official said. "We believe he was acting alone."
US diplomats and local embassy employees were advised by the embassy not to come to work on Tuesday.
A police officer outside the compound told dpa that the assailant stepped out from a taxi minibus and jumped over concrete blocks in front of the gate holding his rifle.
The officer said the attacker shouted "In the name of Allah.. God is great" as he began to shoot at the embassy gate and guards.
Security forces closed a main road passing by the embassy compound and armoured police vehicles were seen patrolling the vicinity on Tuesday.
US diplomats were not immediately available for comments and the embassy did not return calls.
The attack comes two days after Yemeni state security prosecutors began questioning 22 suspected al-Qaeda operatives believed to having planned terror attacks against Western interests and vital installations in the Yemen.
- SAPA
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