Yemen: Rocket attack targets British embassy car

Another gunman shoots and kills a French businessman; attacks cast doubts on effectiveness of US-backed campaign against al-Qaida.

By ASSOCIATED PRESS
Yemen Road Blocks 311 (photo credit: AP)
Yemen Road Blocks 311
(photo credit: AP)
A rocket attack damaged a British embassy car in the capital San'a, wounding three bystanders on Wednesday, a Yemeni security official said. On the same day, a gunman shot and killed the French manager of Austrian oil and gas company OMV outside the capital.
 A Yemeni security official said the attacker was believed to be a security guard at the company's compound outside San'a, but the motive was not immediately known.
The Frenchman died shortly after being transferred to a hospital for treatment, he added.
The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the press.
A British Foreign Office official, also speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed that there was an attack on a British Embassy vehicle in San'a, but said there were no casualties among British Embassy staff.
The Yemeni security official said the armored car was struck by shrapnel from the rocket. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the press.
The blast comes two days after Yemeni authorities boosted security in the capital around embassies on information of an attack planned by Al-Qaida.
In April the British ambassador was targeted by a suicide bomber who blew himself up near the diplomat's armored car in a poor neighborhood of the capital, San'a. The ambassador was unharmed.
The suicide bombing was the first of its kind in the capital in a year. It cast doubt on the effectiveness of the Yemeni government's US-backed campaign against al-Qaida militants, who have found a haven in parts of the rugged, mountainous nation where the central government's control is weak.