Yemen minister escapes assassination bid

Yemeni Transport Minister Waed Bathib on Saturday escaped an attempt on his life when his convoy came under gunfire in the southern port city of Aden, an aide told AFP. "Unknown gunmen opened fire at the convoy of the minister after he left the airport of Aden" following an inspection visit, the aide said requesting anonymity. He said the assailants managed to escape. Bathib, a senior member of Yemen's Socialist Party which opposed ousted president Ali Abdullah Saleh, has already been the target of two assassination attempts in Sanaa over the past months. Al-Qaeda militants remain active in southern Yemen, where separatist militants also attack security forces to press their demands for autonomy or renewed independence for the south. South Yemen was a separate state before unification with the north in 1990.