Yemeni President Says Islamic Jihad behind UK Embassy Attack

Yemeni President Says Islamic Jihad behind UK Embassy Attack 

Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh said on Al Jazira satellite channel on Wednesday that a member of the Yemeni Islamic Jihad carried out the “criminal” attack last week on the British embassy in Sanaa. 

"A member of the Islamic Jihad was responsible for the attack on the British embassy in Sanaa and he has been arrested," he said, during the interview on "No Limits" show. 

The perpetrator had thrown a hand grenade over the wall of the British embassy, he disclosed.  

Yemen recognized earlier on Wednesday that the bomb blast at the embassy in Sanaa was a "premeditated and criminal act" and said its aim was to damage ties between the two countries, said AFP. 

Prime Minister Abdel Karim al-Iriyani, in a meeting with British ambassador Victor Henderson, said "the explosion in the British embassy compound in Sanaa was a premeditated and criminal act", an official Yemeni source told AFP. 

"This act was aimed to damage relations between Yemen and its British friends," the prime minister said. 

Just hours after the blast, Britain's Foreign Secretary Robin Cook said a bomb had been thrown over the embassy wall on October 13 and described it as a "terrorist attack". No one was hurt -- (Several Sources) 

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