Man behind U.S. Embassy incident arrested [Archives:2006/1005/Front Page]

By: Yemen Times Staff
SANA'A, Dec. 6 ) Early Tuesday, Yemeni security forces arrested a gunman who opened fire on the United States Embassy in Sana'a, but did not wound any embassy staffers or security guards.

Armed with a Kalashnikov assault rifle, Salem Mohammed Salem Alwan from Abyan governorate fired upon the U.S. Embassy, but failed to breach embassy security guards and immediately was shot in the stomach, the Ministry of Interior said.

Alwan carried out the attack alone at 1:30 a.m. after he got off a bus. He was taken to a hospital after being shot by security guards at the embassy.

The U.S. embassy closed Tuesday as a security procedure while security forces increased around it.

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Mike Henkey, Acting Information Officer at the embassy, affirmed this, “The embassy closed Tuesday and reopened Wednesday,” adding that the embassy hadn't received any threat before the incident.

Nabeel Khoury, deputy head of the mission at the U.S. Embassy in Sana'a, said the embassy doesn't know anything about the attacker or the motives behind the attack, Al-Ayyam daily reported.

Yemen has witnessed a number of terrorist attacks since this past September's elections. On Sept. 15, Yemeni security forces foiled a terrorist attack on two oil facilities in Marib and Hadhramout governorates. Al-Qaeda's wing in Yemen claimed responsibility for the attacks on oil facilities and vowed more strikes against the U.S. and its allies.

“Let the Americans and their allies among the worshippers of the cross and their apostate aides … know that these operations are only the first spark and that what's coming is more severe and bitter,” the group said in a statement posted on the internet.
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