FBI director visits Yemen after al-Qaeda attacks

Apr 9, 2008, 19:28 GMT

Sana'a, Yemen - US Federal Bureau of Investigation Director Robert Mueller arrived in Sana'a Wednesday after two attacks claimed by al-Qaeda targeted the US embassy and a compound housing Americans in Sanaa, an official source said.

Mueller held talks with Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh focused on 'Yemen's efforts against terrorism,' the source told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa, without giving further details.

Mueller's visit comes three days after a mortar attack targeted a high-security residential complex in the Haddah neighbourhood residential compound housing US diplomats and other Westerners working for foreign oil companies in Yemen.

There were no casualties when the compound was hit by three mortar shells on Sunday, police said. They said the attackers managed to escape.

On Tuesday, an al-Qaeda-affiliated group known as Yemen Soldiers Brigade claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement posted on an Islamic web site.

The group said the attack was carried out to avenge the killing of Mulla Dadallah, an Afghan Taliban leader, in a US air strike in the southern Afghan region of Helmand in May 2007.

The US embassy in Yemen on Tuesday asked its non-essential staff and family members to leave Yemen.

The embassy advised its employees to 'strictly limit their exposure in public places until further notice.'

It also called on US citizens in Yemen to 'exercise caution and take prudent security measures, including maintaining a high level of vigilance.'

A police officer said attack was similar to the mortar attack against the US embassy in Sana'a on March 18, when four mortar shells were fired at the embassy compound, but missed their target and struck a girls' school adjacent to the embassy.

An embassy guard was killed in the March attack, while three embassy guards and 13 female students were wounded. Official media said later that the terrorist network al-Qaeda was behind the embassy attack.