By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
At least four Yemenis and a French man were injured in clashes Sunday between local and foreign workers at a gas plant in Yemen, prompting government troops to intervene to restore calm, security officials said.
The violence began when a French employee at a natural gas liquefaction plant being constructed by Yemen LNG in the coastal city of Balhaf threw a copy of the Koran, Islam's holy book, on the ground, a move that angered Yemeni workers at the plant site, the Yemeni officials said.
The enraged Yemenis reacted by attacking the French employee and setting fire to a helicopter and a large number of vehicles inside the plant site, the officials said.
The Yemenis also tried to attack expatriate workers in their camp inside the plant site but were pushed back by Yemeni troops who intervened with tanks and armored vehicles to contain the violence and restore calm.