Yemeni father's school slaughter

San'a (AP) - An irate father opened fire at two high schools in the Yemeni capital of San'a yesterday, killing at least four people and wounding others, witnesses said.

The gunman, identified as Hassan Ali al-Baadani, apparently waited outside the gates of Al-Tallai private high school, which his two daughters attend. When the headmistress arrived, he shot her dead with a Kalashnikov. He then killed a cafeteria employee who rushed to cover her body and wounded a bus driver who tried to block him from entering the school.

Once inside, he went from classroom to classroom and shot dead at least one teacher, before walking 500 yards to the nearby Moussa bin Nussair High School to kill a teacher there. There were reports that a number of students were wounded or killed.

Witnesses said al-Baadani seemed to be hysterical. They said he was apparently distraught at "indiscretions" by his teenage daughters, but they did not elaborate.

Yemeni security forces detained al-Baadani and surrounded the two schools.

Yemen is a conservative Arab Muslim country at the southern tip of the Arabian peninsula. The Yemenis have a tradition of carrying automatic rifles, machine-guns and other weapons.