Thirty hurt in fire attack on Yemen mosque

SANAA (Reuters) - Attackers poured fuel over worshippers at a mosque in northern Yemen, locked the doors and set fire to it, wounding 30 people, the official Saba news agency reported on Saturday.

The attack took place on Friday in the northern province of Amran, south of Saada, where troops are battling Shi'ite Muslim rebels who the government says want to install clerical rule in the Sunni-dominated country.

It was not immediately clear if the mosque was used by Sunni or Shi'ite worshippers.

"Security authorities are investigating to identify the assailants and the motives of this criminal act," Saba quoted Amran Governor Taha Hajar as saying.

Police arrested a suspect, identified as Hamid al-Shoumi, state-run Web site www.26sep.net reported. It gave no further details on Shoumi but said 33 people were wounded in the attack.

Saba said late on Friday eight victims were taken to the capital Sanaa in critical condition, while 22 were admitted to local hospitals with burns.

Several people suffered from smoke inhalation in the attack, the third in Amran, Saba said. In 2001 a man opened fire at worshippers, killing three, and in 2003 a bomb in a mosque killed one man and wounded 50, it said.

Government officials say at least 250 rebels and about 120 soldiers have been killed since January in a campaign against followers of Shi'ite Muslim rebel leader Abdul-Malik al-Houthi.

Yemen, the ancestral homeland of al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, joined the U.S.-led war on terrorism after the September 11, 2001, attacks in the United States.

Houthi's supporters are not linked to al Qaeda.