Yemen: French man has been killed in a shooting at an Austrian gas firm

(October 6, 2010)

In a terrorist attack, a local guard shot dead a French national at the offices of Austria's OMV energy group in Sana'a. A British employee was also injured in the shooting, OMV said.

Identified by the Ministry as Hesham Muhammad Ahmad Assim, the shooter was assigned to guard one of OMV's buildings in Sana'a by the private security company Alcon which is owned by the son the chairman of the state intelligence services Ghalib al-Qamish.

An investigation has been launched to determine if the attack by the guard, who was employed by a security firm, was politically motivated or simply a criminal act.

The victim, who was not identified, was an employee of the French industrial engineering company SPIE and was attached to OMV, the French Foreign Ministry in Paris confirmed.