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Subscribe to RSSUpdated at 5:30 p.m. ET: A masked gunman assassinated a Yemeni security official who worked for the U.S. Embassy in a drive-by shooting near his home in the capital Sanaa on Thursday, officials told The Associated Press.
Yemeni officials told the AP the killing bore the hallmarks of an attack by the al-Qaida offshoot in Yemen, but it was too early to determine whether the group was behind it.
The slain official was identified as Qassem Aqlani, a man in his 50s.
He was walking near his home in western Sanaa, when a gunman on a motorcycle opened fire at him and fled the scene. The embassy is located in eastern Sanaa.
In a statement, U.S. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said officials were "deeply saddened" by the killing. "We condemn this vicious act in the strongest terms possible and extend our deepest condolences to his family and friends at this difficult time," Nuland said.
"We are coordinating closely with the Yemeni authorities to investigate this attack and to help bring those responsible to justice."
Aqlani had been working as a Foreign Service national investigator at the embassy for the last 11 years, the State Department said.
Most recently, he was in charge of investigating a Sept. 12 assault on the U.S. Embassy by angry Yemeni protesters over the anti-Islam film.
Protesters stormed the embassy and set fire to a U.S. flag before government forces dispersed them with tear gas. That attack came one day after the killings of the Americans in Benghazi.
Anti-US protests over Islam film spread in Middle East
The assassination resembles other attacks recently that have targeted Yemeni intelligence, military and security officials.
Those attacks are believed to be in retaliation for a military offensive by Yemen's U.S.-backed government against Yemen-based Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), which Washington considers the most dangerous offshoot of the global terror network.
AQAP has called for attacks on U.S. embassies in a bid to exploit the anti-American sentiment that has swept the Middle East and other parts of the Muslim world in the past month over an anti-Islam film produced in the United States.
Al-Qaida's revenge? Leading Yemen general killed by suicide bomber
Initially, the film was linked to an attack on the U.S. Consulate in the Libyan city of Benghazi on Sept. 11 which left four Americans dead including U.S. Ambassador to Libya Chris Stevens. U.S. officials said later the attack was not linked to the video.
AQAP praised the killing of U.S. diplomats in Libya, describing it as "the best example" for those attacking embassies to follow.
AQAP had taken advantage of a security and political vacuum created by last year Arab Spring-inspired uprising and seized territories and cities in the south. The government-led offensive has pushed the militants out to mountainous areas from where they have been staging suicide attacks and assassinations inside cities.
Two weeks ago, a top intelligence official, Col. Abdullah al-Ashwal, was also killed in a drive-by shooting in Sanaa.
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
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I don't blame Odumbass for things like this happening. But I don't want to be lied to & I don't want to see the arrogant clown act like it is no big deal & joke about it. That's my biggest problem with his most recent lies & cover ups. Everything turns in to a big joke with him. Somehow he will try & link Al-Quida's resurgence with something Romney said or a Cartoon Character. I wonder if he still attends only a little over half of the intelligence briefings. He thinks he is to smart for something like the briefings. Being Eye Candy , things like that are beneath him, with his Rock Star status & all.
Throw your panties on stage here.
http://www.politicolnews.com/romney-son-investigated-for-8-billion-ponzi-scheme/#ixzz28GtqSVnR
Rock on Dude! Before I forget, when you see Cheney ask him what he really did with that $1 trill he lost.
6dogs,
Oops, irrelevant.
Just Love how people are both blaming and defending Obamas' foreign Policies, just another example of my team vs your team mentality that you are practicing. Get real people Obamas' Foreign policies are no different then the Last few Presidents who practiced the same policies. Carter, Reagan, Bush Sr., Clinton, Bush Jr. and Now Obama...None of these men had successful Foreign Policies...and guess what, Neither will Mitt..the Guy who pissed off the British so easily. Go back to wanting to Drum Obama out of Office due to The Economy, at least that's a more reasonable arguement.
Nope Ryan is! Romney also said he would reestablish the draft and go to Syria and Iran, Not neccessarily in that order but it will happen. You willing to take that gamble?
Lamont,
Everything is a reasonable argument because NOTHING Hussein has initiated has worked. His only claim to fame is give the go ahead for Seal Team #6 to take out Bin Ladin. Everything beside that has been a dismal failure. I think he is arrogant but maybe a nice guy in person but he has not got what it takes to be President of the United States. We took a chance, rolled the dice & crapped out. Time to move on. Time is wasting. We all get older everyday & I don't have time for experiments.
@6dogs,
RE: "Romney also said he would reestablish the draft"
President Obama said the same thing and stated that he was against the Patriot Act (voted no as Senator). Look how that turned out. No Draft and he helped make the Patriot Act even worse with the NDAA 2012 crap. I'm sure Mr. Romney is telling the truth as they NEVER LIE to us.............Right?
Do you have any links to this information about the draft & invasion of other Countries?
Sorry Kevin, I just don't see it as a Reasonable arguement when it's a focused arguement....The Argument is that Obama is a failure at Foreign Policy..he needs to be taken out of office for that. The Facts are that the American Government on a whole has been a failure at that Policy and Presidents even before Obama have Failed at this Policy...Not jumping you kev..May i call you Kev?...becouse I'm truly honored that you addressed me without need to insault me so I respect you for being more civil then mst of the other posters here...but that's how I see it. Our Foreign Policy has been a Failure for years..it's time for us to back from that Table and see why.
6 dogs info up his butt with the rest of his info.
To kill the Hydro, the neck must be seared shut. The sword isn't enough....
Hydra????maybe
Title says "at" embassy.
Article says "on the way to work"
Big difference. Get the story straight.
My condolences to the man's family.
They did say it was a report not the story read the last para.
It is too early to determine what really happened in this case. This could have been something personal. So every shooting is Potus fault? Please. Do you think the Liar and the Lemur are qualified in foreign policy? BTW if Romney wants to start a war, he has five healthy sons who can throw on a pair of fatigues and deploy!
Yes, every shooting is the Boy Blunder's fault. Yes.
Unbelievable and despicable! Is President Barack Hussein Obama going to blame this attack on a video as well?
The two videos below are the Benghazi Libya - GATE FAILED attempt to cover it up......getting exposed.
American Crossroads: "Intelligence"
h**p://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zp4MuRY3o1Q
American Crossroads: "World"
h**p://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pWnwDtc_gJw&feature=player_embedded
It's amazing how Obama open his mouth and you voice comes out. When he hasn't even maid a statement yet.
American Crossroads = Koch Bros. = plutocracy
obama has no clue as to whats going on, that's why he must go. whether he gives a @!$%# is immaterial obama is out of his league and is putting peoples lives at risk, and is already responsible for the attack on the U S Embassy an four dead American's that we know of. we (America) are in deep @!$%# with obama, November is not to late I hope, to right the ship and sail again as a strong renewed America.
Only way we as a country will set the ship right and sail as a strong renewed America is to get someone in office that respects the position and the people it resides over....Obama and Romney both don't Qualify to fit the bill.
Well, I kind of agree, but, Romney will just have to do.
NOBAMA 2012!!!!!
You shouldn't have to settle for Romney NC...that's one of the Problems with this two party system, it's one or the other, it's The lesser of two Evils, I vote against Evil but have no Options. This is the time that we as Americans should put aside all of this Two Party Bickering and Bring question to our Government who work for us Employed by us to Do Better when it comes to giving us these Choices and doing their Job.
Lamont,
Again, I agree. What else can we do at this specific point in the 2012 election process?
Not a thing, at this point a vote for any other candidate is wasted, like voting for Mickey Mouse.
R/R!!
Another Taliban-Al-Queda COWARD ! Nothing like killing innocent unarmed people.
The U.S. has been in Yemen a long time. If you didn't know we trained, supplied, and met payroll for Yemen military for many years now. Drone strikes have been done there since 2002. Now Sharia type radicals are taking over the country. Just like they have done in numerous countries. They as Al-Qaeda affiliates are winning the populations hearts and minds against US. It shouldn't be called Arab Spring. The more correct term would be Al-Qaeda metamorphosis.
Al Qaeada is back and GM is not doing well. Tell Joe.
But don't tell him now. He'll forget it by tonight.
Yeah, MSNBC,
Change the article title and header on home page - QUICK. It sounds like another attack INSIDE the embassy, which it is NOT. The right wing nuts jobs will reprint that all over the place!!
I just checked the Reuters site and they have it correctly worded
Rubpert Murdoch would say "make it juicy, and sensationalize the act".
newsgirl,
You mean like 911 was an insider attack? Even YOU must be kidding...or on drugs.
I'm Independent and neither a right nor left wing "nut job". So please permit me to note that anyone with a modicum of intelligence and reading comprehension will be capable of discerning that the individual was NOT attacked inside the American Embassy.
Of course if that's what YOU determined, I suggest you might want to hone your reading skills to at least the 3rd grade level.
Yes, we know it was not inside the embassy. It is still Obama's fault.
But Obama said Al Quida is on the run and less significant today!
this guy had a dangerous job, tough break, working for the great satan must have really made him popular
john,
But you work for no one. Get a job.
I do not feel safer than I did four years ago.
Hussein Zero. A FAILURE at Home. A FAILURE Abroad. Just a Flaming, Incompetent FAILURE. Good Riddance to the "Great Mistake of 08." Throw the Trash Out of Our White House!
Romney has more positions than a porno star. "Liar liar pants on fire".....His underwear must be fire resistant! This country does not need a used car salesman in charge. A team who would put profit before people. That includes all these righties who think Romney cares about them. Are you rich? @#%# no! So why do you Tea freaks support policies that would destroy your families? SMH :(
Then why did not YOUR "leader" nail Romney on those things during the slaughter/debate last week? Hmmm?
LORRAINE-1996956
Please permit me to ask you one question;
Why do rabid Obama supporters, like yourself, immediately resort to the prepubescent infantile name calling and complete distortion of already refuted "facts" to support your position instead of using actual accomplishments and truths?
XDm9mm
Well it's either the name calling or references to Big Bird so name your poison. Obama supporters have nothing to stand on other than let their anger out on Romney, call names or make jokes about Cartoon Characters. It's funny that this man gets shot in Yemin & Odumbass supporters use this to attack Romney. Desperation?
Obama's failures are finally able to be seen by everyone. That includes SOME of the blind liberals.
Nothing Obama has done has been good. He gets it ALL wrong every time.
NOBAMA 2012!!!!
I'm sure Obama and his administration will consider this just another "bump in the road". It's time to vote this unqualified, inept, way over his pay grade guy out of office.
At least they are killng each other.
The trend continues; our foreign policy is in shambles (thanks for nothing, Barry), the media downplays it, the government excuses and lies about it, the American people are too busy trying to make ends meet. The perfect storm.
Al-qaeda is the muslime brotherhoods army. They were the "rebels" in Egypt and Libya which the muslime brotherhood now controls both countries.
The billions of dollars Barack Obama is giving those countries is going dirrectly t the muslime brotherhood.
The muslime brootherhood is behind the Syrian trouble. Their goal is to take over the African countries first and then the world.
Barack Obama is aiding these islamic cultists by giving them billions of Americans money.
If you want to stop terrorists across the world you need to stop Barack Obama.
America has been the one that has fought terrorism until now. Obama has aided terrorism by preventing our military from properly doing it's job.
US policy is orchestrated to appease as many muslims as possible. Even having a supposed Muslim president in office. The goal is to have the civilized (Western) Muslims handle the problem theirselves. However it has been over 30 years and that has not happened. What we have accomplished is secretive. This isn't about terrorism and never was. Question? How did Pakistan aquire Nuclear weapons in that time frame? Pakistan's police and military were trained by US across the street from Bin Laden.
Bob,
Good Post. Obama supporters will NEVER buy into any of it. They won't bite the hand that feeds the mootchers.
As an American working woman, this scares me! (as it should scare all women in USA). The muslims treat women like dirt. Women have worked too hard to get here... how can we support crap like BO?
Women for Romney/Ryan (for our rights!!!!)
The amount of arm-chair world leaders commenting on this article is staggering. I suppose I'm the only one who feels like there are more than two angles and two variables to the state of the world?
"Obama's foreign policies have FAILED! Al-queda is stronger than ever!" Why? Because they've gotten more brazen? Let me get this straight... we have a president who wants to attempt to make peace with outside forces, and then when peace isn't a viable option he makes attempts to go after the heads of the problem instead of using brute force ... and he gets accused of being both an apologist and a fire-starter?
No president has or will ever be perfect. But to call names and make wild accusations of any man or woman who has to juggle the cause-and-effect balance of the ecomony and military of one of the most powerful countries in the world and how it relates to the rest of the world is nothing short of pure deluded ignorance. Do you honestly think you "comprehend" what Obama, Bush Jr., Clinton, Bush Sr. or any other president of the US has had on their plates? Their tactics have all been different. Their reasons for their decisions have all been different. But every single one of them understood the volatile and unpredictable power of a single domino.
Mattt,
Bud, civilized behavior only works with civilized people. While Obama dithers, Americans die and we are ever weaker.
This is a clash of civilizations. It will not end until one "side" wins. The tepid arguments of a neophyte like Obama are laughed at by the radical Muslims in the world. The only ting that they understand and respect is crushing, brute force.
If they hate us, then let them also fear us.
Matt,
I hear what your saying but with all of Obama's juggling, it would be nice it he could at least attend his 15 min. of foreign intelligence meetings everyday instead of being Super Star Eye Candy. Things like his absence from these briefings everyday only speak to his attitude toward his job. He is lax in everything he does. He is flat out lazy.
Give BO a break, he's got television appearances he needs to go to. Important strategic golf games, and dinner parties with movie stars. Politics, he takes the Alfred E. Newman approach: What me worry?
It couldn't have been Al qaeda. Obama went and personally shot every single one of them. They no longer exist.