Yemeni president plays down attack on PM's car

Yemen's president played down a gun attack on his prime minister's motorcade as an 'isolated incident' and vowed to capture and punish those involved, state news agency Saba reported.

SANAA // Yemen's president played down a gun attack on his prime minister's motorcade as an "isolated incident" and vowed on Sunday to capture and punish those involved, state news agency Saba reported.

Prime minister Mohammed Salem Basindwa was not hurt in the assault in the capital on Saturday night, but it underscored the volatility of the country struggling to overcome political turmoil.

"It's an isolated, single incident and it had no impact worth mentioning other than the media crackle aimed at harming (the reputation) of the government in particular and the country in general," Saba quoted president Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi as saying.

No one has claimed responsibility for the attack. Yemen is home to Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), considered one of the most aggressive branches of the global militant organisation, which has previously attacked top officials.

The impoverished Arabian Peninsula state has been in turmoil since an uprising in 2011 which eventually forced veteran ruler Ali Abdullah Saleh to step down.

Stabilising Yemen, a US ally also grappling with southern separatists and northern rebels, is an international priority due to fears of disorder in a state that flanks top oil producer Saudi Arabia and major shipping lanes.

Basindwa's media advisor, Rajeh Badi, said the car used in Saturday's attack had not been found and the investigation was continuing.

Hadi last week said the AQAP's leader had vowed in an intercepted phone call to carry out an attack that would "change the face of history".

He said this was what had led to the temporary closure of many US and other Western embassies in the Middle East, Africa and Asia in August.