Father of Yemeni suicide bomber says son went missing prior to attack on British ambassador

Yemeni bomber’s father says son had disappeared

SAN’A, Yemen — The father of a Yemeni suicide bomber who blew himself up in an attack on the British ambassador this week says his son went missing a month and a half before the bombing.

Ali al-Salwi said on Wednesday he had alerted the police that his son, Othman, disappeared in March.

He says the 22-year-old was released earlier this year after spending two years in prison for being a member in al-Qaida.

The British ambassador escaped unhurt in the attack Monday, when the Yemeni youth detonated his explosives belt near the diplomat’s armored car in a poor neighborhood of the capital, San’a.

The attack was the first of its kind in San’a in a year, and it cast doubt on the effectiveness of the government’s U.S.-backed campaign against al-Qaida.