Yemen said yesterday it had foiled two attacks on oil and gas facilities, days after a senior al-Qaeda leader urged supporters to target oil installations in the Gulf region. The Yemeni Interior Ministry said security staff at both locations had succeeded in exploding the bombers' cars before they could do any damage. One guard was killed along with four attackers. The attacks targeted a Canadian-Yemeni oil storage facility in the Dubba port and an oil refinery in the north-east. Ayman al-Zawahiri, deputy to Osama bin Laden in al-Qaeda, called this week for attacks on Gulf oil installations.

Heba Saleh, Sanaa