US embassy security chief killed in Yemen

Qassem Aqlani, Yemeni head of security at the US embassy in Sanaa, shot dead on way to work by motorcycle gunman.

The Yemeni chief of security at the US embassy in Sanaa has been assassinated, security officials have said.

Qassem Aqlani, who was reportedly in his fifties, was shot dead while on his way to work early on Thursday. A gunman on a motorcycle reportedly opened fire at him and fled the scene.

Aqlani had been working for the US embassy in the Yemeni capital for nearly 20 years.

A US diplomat said Aqlani was in charge of coordinating a US and Yemeni probe into an attack last month on the embassy by protesters angry over an anti-Islam film that triggered a wave of deadly demonstrations across the Muslim world.

The US state department, in a statement released on Thursday, condemned the assassination, calling it "vicious act".

Source and full story: Al Jazeera, 11 Oct 2012