Sanaa:
The British ambassador to Yemen on Monday narrowly escaped a suicide bombing in Sanaa in which two bystanders were injured, a security official said.
"The ambassador was not hurt" in the attack that targeted his convoy as it headed towards the embassy, said the security official who requested anonymity.
The official said that attack was a suicide bombing and "only the attacker was killed." Earlier reports said an unidentified person was also killed.
Two bystanders were wounded, medical officials said. Witnesses said that the bomber was a bit slow in targeting the diplomat's vehicle and his body was torn to pieces.
A police car escorting the convoy was partly damaged in the attack which took place about 600 metres (yards) from the embassy, a correspondent who visited the site reported.
Timothy Achille Torlot is the current British ambassador to Yemen according to the embassy's website.
Meanwhile, Yemen's interior ministry said the suicide attack on the convoy of the British ambassador in Sanaa appeared to be the work of Osama bin Laden's Al-Qaida jihadist network.
"The failed terrorist attack that targeted the British ambassador in Sanaa carries the fingerprints of Al-Qaida," said the interior ministry website, citing security authorities.
It confirmed that ambassador Timothy Torlot escaped the attack in which a suicide bomber threw himself at the convoy of the diplomat "wearing an explosive belt."
The British foreign office reported that Torlot, in Yemen since 2007, was not hurt in the attack and announced that the British mission was to remain closed to public "for the time being".
The American and British missions in Sanaa were shut for some days in January following indications that the local branch of Al-Qaida was targeting Western interests in the Arabian Peninsula country.
The warning followed the botched Christmas Day bombing of a US airliner which was claimed by Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) -- the local Al-Qaida franchise.
"The ambassador was not hurt" in the attack that targeted his convoy as it headed towards the embassy, said the security official who requested anonymity.
The official said that attack was a suicide bombing and "only the attacker was killed." Earlier reports said an unidentified person was also killed.
Two bystanders were wounded, medical officials said. Witnesses said that the bomber was a bit slow in targeting the diplomat's vehicle and his body was torn to pieces.
A police car escorting the convoy was partly damaged in the attack which took place about 600 metres (yards) from the embassy, a correspondent who visited the site reported.
Timothy Achille Torlot is the current British ambassador to Yemen according to the embassy's website.
Meanwhile, Yemen's interior ministry said the suicide attack on the convoy of the British ambassador in Sanaa appeared to be the work of Osama bin Laden's Al-Qaida jihadist network.
"The failed terrorist attack that targeted the British ambassador in Sanaa carries the fingerprints of Al-Qaida," said the interior ministry website, citing security authorities.
It confirmed that ambassador Timothy Torlot escaped the attack in which a suicide bomber threw himself at the convoy of the diplomat "wearing an explosive belt."
The British foreign office reported that Torlot, in Yemen since 2007, was not hurt in the attack and announced that the British mission was to remain closed to public "for the time being".
The American and British missions in Sanaa were shut for some days in January following indications that the local branch of Al-Qaida was targeting Western interests in the Arabian Peninsula country.
The warning followed the botched Christmas Day bombing of a US airliner which was claimed by Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) -- the local Al-Qaida franchise.
