Seized Italian embassy guard freed in Yemen

August 3, 2012

A guard from the Italian embassy in Yemen has been freed four days after he was abducted, the state Yemeni news agency Saba reported yesterday.

The abductors handed over the man to local authorities in the southern province of Mareb late Thursday, added the agency, quoting an official at the interior ministry.

The guard, a member of the Carabinieri police force, was kidnapped on Sunday in Sanaa and moved to Mareb where the Yemeni government has pursued a military campaign against insurgents since April.

 Saba said his release followed efforts by the interior ministry upon orders from President Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi.

Yemen officials: 6 killed in 2 separate explosions

August 3, 2012

By AHMED AL-HAJ, Associated Press

SANAA, Yemen (AP) — Security officials in Yemen say explosions in two marketplaces in different parts of the country killed six people on Friday.

In the first incident, a security official said a man on a motorcycle lobbed a bomb into a crowded vegetable market in the southern city of Taiz. The blast that followed left five people dead and seven injured. Authorities are pursuing the attacker following tips by locals.

In the capital Sanaa, another official said an explosion ripped through an Internet cafe in a popular market where the herbal stimulant qat is sold, killing one man.

It is not clear who was behind the attack. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to speak to the media.