(Corrects Feb. 14 story, after clarification from Yemen embassy, to make clear the diplomat was a consul not ambassador)
MOGADISHU (Reuters) - Yemen's consul to Somalia survived agrenade attack on Thursday while attending a ceremony held bymembers of the Yemeni diaspora in Mogadishu, an aide to theembassy said.
Unidentified gunmen hurled a grenade at a school in theBulo Hubey neighbourhood in south Mogadishu where the partytook place, killing one of the guests and wounding two others.
However, Yemeni consul Ali Masud was quickly escorted awayby government troops before he was due to deliver a speech.
"Ali Musid attended a ceremony organised by Yemeni diasporain Mogadishu and while the ceremony was underway a grenade wasthrown at the school where the party was happening killing oneperson and wounding two others," a Somali aide to the embassy,Ahmed Abdi, told Reuters.
"He is safe and is now staying at the embassy."
Somalia's interim government and its Ethiopian militaryallies are fighting an Islamist insurgency in the lawless Hornof Africa country. A local human rights group said 6,500civilians were killed in the fighting last year.
Somalia was plunged into chaos when warlords toppledmilitary dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991.
(Reporting by Aweys Yusuf)
