THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Yemen's veteran president, Ali Abdullah Saleh was wounded by shellfire, as his presidential palace came under attack amid the country's brewing civil war.
Mr Saleh, who has held office for nearly 33 years, was praying in a mosque inside the fortified palace compound when it was struck by at least two shells, killing seven guards.
The president escaped with light injuries, according to western diplomats and government officials, but the prime minister and speaker of parliament were more seriously hurt. Rashad al-Alami, the deputy prime minister and a leading pro-Western voice in the cabinet, was said to [be] in a critical condition.
In a brief speech after the attack Mr Saleh said it had been carried out by an "outlaw gang" of his tribal foes.
Speaking only via audio in a televised speech, he blamed the attack on the powerful Hashed tribe led by Sadeq al-Ahmar who has been battling Saleh loyalists in Sana'a.
"I salute our armed forces and the security forces for standing up firmly to confront this challenge by an outlaw gang that has nothing to do with the so-called youth revolution," he said. » | Adrian Blomfield, Middle East Correspondent | Friday, June 03, 2011
THE GUARDIAN: 4 top Yemeni officials in Saudi for treatment » | AP foreign | Saturday, June 04, 2011
