Yemeni police arrested dozens of Al-Qaeda suspects in sweeps a day after a suicide bomber tried to kill Britain's ambassador to Yemen, security officials said on Tuesday. At the 22-year-old bomber's home near Sana'a, his father told Reuters that he condemned his son's actions and that he had tried to get him to marry and find a job, before the young man went missing around six weeks ago. Othman Ali Al-Sulwi, who wore an explosive belt when he threw himself at a convoy taking Ambassador Tim Torlot to work on Monday, had spent two years in prison before being released at the start of this year, his father said. “I deplore and condemn this act in all its forms,” the father said, adding that he had reported his son's disappearance to the authorities, who began a search for him. Sulwi's attack “bore the hallmarks of Al-Qaeda”, Yemen's Interior Ministry said on Monday. Among those taken into custody, the officials said, were seven Yemenis who had close relations with Sulwi. The seven men, as well as the bomber, had all been arrested for suspected Al-Qaeda ties following the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on US targets, but were released after two years in prison, according to the officials. No embassy staff was injured in Monday's attack, but two security escorts and a bystander were wounded. The British embassy will close to the public for at least the rest of the week, an embassy spokeswoman said on Tuesday.
