It has emerged that the four people attacked in Sana'a last week (and described rather vaguely by the US embassy as "foreign residents" of Yemen) were in fact working for the CIA.

Their vehicle, a Toyota Hilux pickup truck, had stopped near the Pizzaiola restaurant in the Hadda district around 8.30 last Wednesday evening when it was attacked. The Yemen Observer 
says a grenade was thrown under it; the Yemen Times says an explosive device was placed in the back of it or underneath but failed to detonate properly.

No one was injured and it's unclear if the CIA employees were in the vehicle at the time.

A Jordanian man was promptly arrested by Yemeni "police protection officers" who appear to have been on hand. He is said to have had a silenced pistol, four different ID cards, and explosive materials in his possession.

The Pizzaiola restaurant is popular with foreigners and it's possible the attacker was simply targeting "westerners": he may not have been aware of the CIA connection. On the other hand, there may be more to this story than meets the eye.

Posted by Brian Whitaker, 21 Dec 2010