March 16, 2002	Saturday	Muharram 1, 1423

WASHINGTON, March 15: A young Yemeni man threw two explosive devices, apparently grenades, at the US embassy in Yemen on Friday, officials said, a day after US Vice President Dick Cheney made a brief stop in the country.

State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said that initial reports indicated that there was no damage to the embassy in the Yemeni capital Sanaa, nor any injuries to people inside.

“A person was outside one of the perimeter walls of the embassy and threw two objects which appeared to bounce off the wall and explode,” he said.

“The person is now in the custody of the Yemeni authorities,” said Boucher.

Another official said the devices thrown by a Yemeni individual were “concussion” grenades. Local residents in Sanaa also said a grenade was thrown. The attacker did not make it over the embassy wall, officials said.

The blast happened at around 6:00 pm (1600 GMT) in Sanaa’s northeastern Sa’wan neighborhood, where the US embassy is located. Police blocked access to the area, witnesses said.

The embassy had warned Thursday of a possible imminent terrorist threat to US interests in the Gulf state this week as Cheney visited the country, according to a document.—AFP