Yemen presidential adviser survives attack

Dubai: An adviser to Yemen’s president said he survived an apparent assassination attempt on Monday when armed men opened fire on a car carrying him in Sana’a.

The impoverished Arabian Peninsula state has been in turmoil since an uprising last year which eventually forced veteran ruler Ali Abdullah Saleh to step down in February.

“The car stopped at a road block thinking it was a checkpoint, but then armed man tried to storm the car. When the driver sped off they opened fire,” Yassin Said Noman told Reuters.

Islamist militants gained ground during the unrest, that was inspired by revolts across the Arab world, taking control of some towns in south Yemen.

The army, with backing from the United States, has forced them out of some areas this year but they have hit back with a series of suicide bombings targeting government institutions.

Al Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula is based in Yemen and has also attempted to stage operations in neighbouring Saudi Arabia and the United States.

Noman is head of Yemeni Socialist Party and one of three advisers to president Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi, who succeeded Saleh.

The minister of transport, another socialist party official, escaped an assassination attempt on Saturday in the southern port city Aden.