Bomber was jailed as al-Qa'ida suspect

A young Yemeni man who blew himself up in an attack on the British ambassador this week had been jailed for suspected ties to al-Qa'ida and vanished after his release from custody earlier this year.

The 22-year-old bomber's father said he alerted police when his son disappeared after spending two years in prison. Othman al-Salwi escaped detection and prepared a suicide operation, most likely at the direction of Yemen's al-Qa'ida offshoot, though there has been no claim of responsibility.

The British ambassador was unhurt in Monday's attack, in which Salwi detonated an explosives belt near his armoured car in Sana'a.