Yemen defence minister survives in attack
ADEN: Yemen's defence minister survived a suicide bomb attack on his convoy in the south on Tuesday, while thousands of protesters took to the streets of the capital repeating their calls for the president to quit.
The blast in Aden wounded seven soldiers travelling in the lead vehicle of the ministerial motorcade, but Defence Minister Mohammed Nasser Ali, who was riding in the second car, was unharmed, a local official said.
Since popular protests against President Ali Abdullah Saleh broke out in this impoverished Arabian Peninsula state earlier this year, militants suspected of links to al Qaeda have tightened their grip on the south and have repeatedly targeted troops and security officials.
International powers fear growing lawlessness in Yemen could embolden al Qaeda's local wing and imperil strategic shipping routes.
Copyright Reuters, 2011
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