Yemen Live Blog

Wealthy donor nations, with Saudi Arabia in the lead, have pledged $4bn in aid to Yemen as it grapples with a fragile political transition and struggles to contain the growing threat by al-Qaeda.

Seven aid groups gave warning on Wednesay that Yemen was on the brink of a "catastrophic food crisis" and urged the participants in the Friends of Yemen meeting in Riyadh to bolster efforts to salvage the situation.

The Arabian Peninsula country was rocked by an uprising last year that forced Ali Abdullah Saleh to step down as president in February.

Al Jazeera's Jane Ferguson, reporting from Sanaa, said, "This money is crucial to Yemenis, as malnutrition rates have doubled since 2009".

Our correspondent added: "This is a humanitarian pledge but the Saudis are interested in Yemen's own security - political and military. Poverty and security go hand in hand."

Yemen's government says a planned national day military parade will go ahead, despite an attack on the military.

More than 90 soldiers were killed by a suicide bomber during rehearsals on Monday.

Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula said it was responsible for the attack.

Yemeni military officials say 42 people have been killed in heavy clashes between the army and al-Qaeda-linked fighters in the country's south.

The officials say the military used warplanes and heavy artillery in its assault early Sunday on the town of al-Hurur in Abyan province, killing at least 30 militants.

Al-Hurur is just outside the city of Jaar, which is one of many towns in southern Yemen that have been under the control of al-Qaida fighters since last year.

The officials also say 12 government troops were killed Sunday in fighting in the town of al-Code and the provincial capital of Zinjibar.

In the capital, Sanaa, President Barack Obama's counterterrorism adviser, John Brennan, met with the new Yemeni president, Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi.

[Source: AP]

Bulgaria's ambassador to Yemen has escaped a kidnap attempt while he was driving through Sanaa, where Oman has closed it embassy and withdrawn its staff over "terrorist threats," diplomats and security officials said.

In Sofia, Bulgarian Foreign Minister Nikolay Mladenov confirmed the aborted abduction of ambassador Boris Borisov and said the diplomat was injured.

"Masked armed men stopped the car of the Bulgarian ambassador to kidnap him, but the diplomat managed to escape and hide in a nearby shop," a Yemeni security official told AFP news agency in Sanaa.

The attempt against Borisov and his wife took place on Algeria Street, a main thoroughfare in the Yemeni capital, at around 5pm (1400 GMT), another Yemeni official said.

The Bulgarian foreign minister reacted in a statement saying: "I am shocked and indignant at the kidnap attempt and violence against the Bulgarian ambassador in Sanaa, Boris Borisov."

According to the Bulgarian foreign ministry, a pick-up truck intercepted and blocked the diplomatic car, driven by Borisov.

The four armed men in the truck first shot in the air and then smashed the front and driver's windscreen of the car.

"They tried to forcefully drag Borisov out of the car, hitting him on the face and arms. One of the attackers entered through the righthand side door of the car and threatened ambassador Borisov with a knife," Mladenov said.

"The rest continued to shoot and hit the car with their stocks of their guns, trying to facilitate the kidnapping. The ambassador managed to resist and remain in the driver's seat, warning them that they were attacking a diplomat."

Borisov will return to Sofia shortly for treatment and the embassy in Sanaa will be closed for business for the next few days, Mladenov told national radio.

He could not immediately comment on the reasons behind the kidnap attempt but urged Yemen authorities to undertake urgent measures to track down the perpetrators and prevent similar incidents in the future.

Borisov, who has been interim ambassador in Yemen since 2008 was appointed ambassador recently and presented his credentials only a week ago.

Meanwhile, Oman shut its mission and withdrew its staff from Sanaa, an Arab diplomat there said on Sunday. 

[Source: AFP]