Al-Qaeda regional group claims responsibility for attack targeting British ambassador

Al-Qaeda group claims April attack in Yemen

NEW YORK — An al-Qaida affiliate claimed responsibility for an April 26 suicide bombing in Yemen that targeted the British ambassador, a U.S.-based terrorist tracking organization said Tuesday.

SITE Intelligence Group said in a news release that Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula claimed responsibility for the attack in a communique released on jihadist forums Tuesday.

The British ambassador was unhurt in the attack, in which a Yemeni man detonated his explosives belt near the diplomat’s armored car in a poor neighborhood of the capital, San’a.

AQAP identified the bomber as Uthman Noman al-Salwi and provided his picture. The communique identifies him as a member of the “Brigade of Sheikh Abu Omar al-Baghdadi.” The communique vilifies Britain for allegedly plotting against the Arabian Peninsula and for its role in the establishment of Israel.

Al-Salwi, 22, had previously been jailed for two years for suspected ties to al-Qaida. His father said in an interview after the April 26 bombing that authorities had agreed to release his son into parental custody as long as he checked in with police daily and attended school. Instead, he said his son disappeared without notifying his family of his whereabouts.

The suicide bombing was the first of its kind in the capital in a year. It cast doubt on the effectiveness of the Yemeni government’s U.S.-backed campaign against al-Qaida militants, who have found a haven in parts of the rugged, mountainous nation where the central government’s control is weak.