British ambassador escapes suicide attack on his armored car in Yemeni capital

Yemen: British ambassador escapes suicide attack

SAN’A, Yemen — The British ambassador in Yemen narrowly escaped a suicide attack Monday, when a young man in a school uniform detonated his explosives belt near the diplomat’s armored car in a poor neighborhood of the capital San’a, officials said.

The attack was the first such suicide bombing in the capital in a year, and it cast doubt on the effectiveness of the Yemeni government’s U.S.-backed campaign against al-Qaida militants, who have found a haven in parts of the mountainous, impoverished nation where the central government’s control is weak.

Washington has stepped up counterterrorism aid to San’a over the past year, warning that al-Qaida’s offshoot in Yemen has become a global threat, particularly after it claimed responsibility for the failed Christmas Day attempt to bomb an American jet liner heading for Detroit.

A British Embassy spokeswoman said the ambassador, Timothy Torlot, was unhurt in the attack Monday morning, which wounded three bystanders, including a woman.

The ambassador’s vehicle was passing through the impoverished San’a district of Noqm when the explosion went off nearby, the Interior Ministry said in a statement. The explosion ripped apart the bomber, and his head was found on the roof of a house about 20 meters (yards) away, it said.

The ministry identified the bomber as a 22-year old high school student who hails from the southern town of Taiz.

Witnesses said the attacker was a young man who wore a school uniform, apparently as a disguise. Yemeni officials said the attacker was believed to have been wearing an explosives belt, adding that the Noqm district is known to be popular with militants.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.

There was no claim of responsibility for the attack, but it bore the hallmarks of al-Qaida.

Britain’s Foreign Secretary David Miliband condemned the attack, saying it strengthens British resolve to work closely with Yemen “to tackle international terrorism.”

“Thankfully Tim and all his staff are unhurt,” Miliband said in a statement. “I am grateful for their professionalism and for the role of the Yemeni security authorities who acted quickly and calmly to deal with the situation.”

In March 2009, a similar attack was carried out against a convoy carrying South Korean officials in Yemen, though the blast by a man wearing an explosives belt caused no injuries. The officials had been sent to Yemen to investigate a bombing earlier in the week that killed four Korean tourists at a historical site outside the capital.

The Foreign Office in London said the British Embassy in San’a has been closed to the public and warned all British nationals in Yemen to “keep a low profile and remain vigilant.”

Security was visibly tightened around the U.S. and British embassies following the attack. The area of the explosion was sealed off as Yemeni and British officials inspected the scene of the attack.

Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, an offshoot of Osama bin Laden’s terror network, was formed more than a year ago when Yemen and Saudi militant groups merged. Militants are believed to have built up strongholds in remote parts of the country, allying with powerful tribes that resent the San’a government of President Ali Abdullah Saleh.

The group’s fighters attacked the U.S. Embassy in San’a twice in 2008, and earlier this year a number of Western embassies, including the U.S. and British, shut down for days in response to threats of attack.

The suspect in the failed Christmas Day plane bombing plot has said he received training from al-Qaida militants in Yemen, according to U.S. investigators. In February, the offshoot’s military commander Qasim al-Raimi warned of further attacks against Americans.

Yemen says it is waging an aggressive campaign to uproot al-Qaida, and Washington has earmarked some $150 million in military assistance to Yemen to help combat the threat, with training, equipment and intelligence help.

Yemeni forces carried out dramatic airstrikes and raids on al-Qaida strongholds in December and January. But since then, there have been fewer overt assaults, with officials announcing arrests from time to time.

One Yemeni security official acknowledges that the security measures “have not been enough.”

He warned that extremists sympathetic to al-Qaida are widespread and operating in schools, mosques and religious schools, “brainwashing young people.” The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the situation.

President Saleh’s government is deeply beleaguered, with a secessionist movement in the south and a war with Shiite rebels in the north. Saleh also has maintained alliances with Islamic extremists in a bid to assure their support in the country’s multiple conflicts.

Associated Press writers Jennifer Quinn in London and Sarah El Deeb in Cairo contributed to this report.