SANAA, Yemen, Jan. 31 (UPI) -- Witnesses said the information minister in Yemen's unity government survived an assassination attempt hours after al-Qaida militants were hit by U.S. drones.
Yemeni Information Minister Ali al-Amrani survived an assassination attempt in Sanaa. His assistant, Abdul Basset al-Qaedi, said gunmen opened fire on Amrani's vehicle but the minister was uninjured, the BBC reports.
Amrani resigned from the ruling General People's Congress and joined the opposition in March during widespread demonstrations against the government of Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh. Amrani became the information minister after Saleh signed a deal to hand power to his vice president.
The attack on Amrani, the BBC said, followed missile strikes believed to have come from U.S. drones against al-Qaida militants. Among those killed, the BBC adds, was a man wanted in connection with an al-Qaida attack on the USS Cole in Yemen in 2000.
Saleh is undergoing medical treatment in the United States for injuries suffered during a June assassination attempt. He was awarded immunity by the Yemeni government.
Yemen has presidential elections next month.
