Geo World June 04

Yemen president wounded in palace attack but 'well'

Updated at: 0525 PST,  Saturday, June 04, 2011  SANAA: Yemen's embattled President Ali Abdullah Saleh was wounded on Friday when dissidents shelled a mosque in the presidential compound, as Yemen teetered towards civil war and Washington urged a peaceful transition of power. A leader of the ruling General People's Congress (GPC) party told AFP that Saleh was "lightly wounded in the back of his head." In an audio statement broadcast late Friday on state television, Saleh who was being treated at the defence ministry hospital in Sanaa said, "I am well, in good health," and added that the bombardment had killed seven people. Earlier, three officers of the elite Republican Guard were reported to have been killed. Prime Minister Ali Mohammed Mujawar also suffered burns to his face, while a source close to the presidency said deputy premier General Rashad al-Alimi was "critically wounded." Officials said the wounded also included parliament chief Yahya al-Raie, Saleh's private secretary Abdo Burji, Abdulaziz Abdulghani, head of Yemen's consultative council, GPC MP Yasser al-Awadi, Sanaa Governor Noman Duweik and the mosque's imam. The attack was blamed by officials on powerful dissident tribesman Sheikh Sadiq al-Ahmar, whose fighters have been battling government forces since a truce crumbled on Tuesday. Saleh in his message hit out at "the sons of Al-Ahmar," a reference to Sheikh Sadiq and his brothers, and called on "the security forces to purge state institutions of these gangs." (AFP)