> US embassy in Yemen bombed
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> http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2008/09/20089177649418697.html
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> At least 16 people have been killed in an attack on the US embassy in
> the Yemeni capital Sanaa by a suicide bomber and armed fighters, the
> country's interior ministry has said.
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> A suicide bomber on Wednesday morning drove a car close to the embassy
> before detonating his explosives, witnesses said, leaving part of the
> building on fire.
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> Armed men then attacked the embassy from a second car, they said.
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> Six guards, four civilians and six attackers died in the assault, the
> interior ministry said.
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> A group called Islamic Jihad in Yemen has claimed responsibility for
> the attack and threatened to target the British, Emirati and Saudi embassies
> in Sanaa, reports say.
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> Police cordon
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> A vehicle was on fire on the road near the embassy compound's
> perimeter and police sealed off the area, witnesses said.
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> Roads leading to the embassy were closed after the attack.
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> Mohammed al-Qadi, a political columnist for the Yemen Times, told Al
> Jazeera: "The attack came at about 9.30 in the morning, when there were not
> so many people passing in the streets outside the US embassy.
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> "Otherwise, the casualties could have been a lot more."
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> US reaction
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> Washington accused al-Qaeda of being behind the attack.
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> "I think it is safe to say ... the attacks bear all the hallmarks of
> an al-Qaeda attack," Sean McCormack, the US state department spokesman,
> said.
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> George Bush, the US president, said the attack was a bid by extremists
> to drive the United States out of regions like the Middle East.
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> "This attack is a reminder that we are at war with extremists who
> would murder innocent people to achieve their ideological objectives," Bush
> said as he met with General David Petraeus, the former top US commander in
> Iraq.
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> "One objective of these extremists as they kill is to try to cause the
> United States to lose our nerve and to withdraw from regions of the world,
> and our message is - is that we want to help governments survive the
> extremists, we want people to live normal lives," Bush said.
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> High alert
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> The US state department had in April ordered all non-essential
> diplomatic staff to leave the country after an attack on the embassy the
> previous month.
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> A residential compound used by US oil workers in Sanaa had also come
> under attack from rockets at that time.
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> The embassy called on Americans in Yemen to "exercise caution and take
> prudent security measures, including maintaining a high level of vigilance,
> avoiding crowds and demonstrations, keeping a low profile, varying times and
> routes for all travel".
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> There have been several attacks by fighters in Yemen in recent years.
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