Disturbance At U.S. Embassy

An unemployed Yemeni man tossed one or two sound grenades at the U.S. Embassy in San'a on Friday, hitting a wall but injuring no one, Yemeni and U.S. officials said.

A U.S. Embassy spokesman said two grenades were thrown but caused no injuries or damage. "They were noisemakers" rather than weapons, he said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Yemeni police, however, said only one grenade was thrown. They said the man was reaching for a second grenade in his pocket when Yemeni security guards outside the embassy opened fire and arrested him. It was not immediately known whether he was wounded by the gunfire, they added, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The alleged attacker was a 25-year-old high school dropout named Samir Yahya Awadh, according to Faris Sanabani, editor of the government-owned Yemen Observer newspaper. Awadh was unemployed and has no known political affiliations, Sanabani added. Initial reports said Awadh was a university student.

Relatives had indicated Awad was mentally disturbed.

The U.S. duty officer answering the phone at the embassy refused to give any information.

The embassy Wednesday had warned Americans in Yemen that they could be in danger of "imminent terrorist targeting."

On Thursday, Vice President Dick Cheney visited San'a airport for two hours of talks with Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh on the war on terrorism. Cheney was aboard the USS Stennis on Friday.

The Arab state in December launched a manhunt to capture backers of Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network. San'a Thursday pledged support to Washington's drive to help prevent al Qaeda forces from regrouping on Yemeni territory.

A similar explosion took place near the U.S. Embassy in Yemen last July when what appeared to be a stun grenade detonated near the mission. The authorities arrested four people after that blast.

Last June, the United States closed its mission in Sanaa to the public and withdrew investigators probing the suicide bombing of the U.S. warship Cole in the port city of Aden in October 2000, in which 17 sailors died.