Blast hits Yemen's main oil pipeline

06 October 2011 | FOCUS News Agency

Sanaa. Yemen's main oil export pipeline was blown up on Thursday in the Wadi Obeida region, east of Sanaa, a local tribal chief told AFP, ruling out an attack by Al-Qaeda.

"The pipeline was sabotaged at around 5 pm (1400 GMT) and the explosion holed the line and sparked a fire," said Sheikh Mohsen Mabkut bin Mayili, a tribal head in Marib province.

He said the attack was probably the work of tribesmen seeking concessions from the government, not Al-Qaeda. It was the sixth act of sabotage this year on the pipeline to Ras Issa terminal on the Red Sea, he said.

Some 125,000 barrels a day normally flow through the line, accounting for the bulk of Yemen's oil exports.