SANA'A: Yemen government officials told Bikyamasr.com that armed men tried to assassinate Vice-President Abdu Rabbo Mansour Hadi on Friday night at his residence on 60 Street. The armed men, who drove a “black Sunata,” rammed directly into a military police post that was there to ensure the VP's protection, opening fire on the soldiers before fleeing towards Rabat Street. Following a chase and an intense shoot-out, the men's car caught fire. Local residents rushed to the scene seeking to extinguish the fire as they feared that the presence of ammunition in the vehicle would lead to an explosion. Although officials revealed that two of the four attackers were severely wounded and another burned, they refused to elaborate further on their status or whether they were currently being questioned. However, military sources conceded that three of the men had been arrested while the 4th had managed to escape from the burning car. This is the second time in the past week that Hadi, the consensus candidate for the coming presidential elections is the target of an assassination plot. In the light of such events, the American embassy decided to provide VP Hadi with armored vehicles and a state of the art security system as its diplomats stressed that Hadi's security was of prime importance, essentially since he held the key to Yemen peaceful power-transfer, at least according to western powers. Moreover, Hadi announced that he would not immediately establish his residence in the presidential compound following the elections, saying that he would run the affairs of the state directly from his residence. The move, which many said was a last ditch effort at honoring President Ali Abdullah Saleh, is in fact an additional security measure. US said officials told Hadi that he would be preferable to wait for things to calm in the country before moving to the presidential quarters, as they fear that Saleh's loyalists could plot his assassination. Hadi is currently training his own personal guard, under the watchful eyes of the Americans. BM ShortURL: http://goo.gl/r6rl6 Tags: Assassination, Elections, featured, Hadi, Security Section: Latest News, Yemen
