DATE=10/13/00

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

TITLE=YEMEN BOMB (L-UPDATE)

BYLINE=SCOTT BOBB

DATELINE=CAIRO

///EDS: UPDATES INTRO OF 2-267885 WITH CASUALTY FIGURES; NO OTHER CHANGES///

INTRO: A bomb has exploded at the British embassy in Yemen, causing material damage but no human casualties. The incident comes one day after an attack on a U-S Navy ship in Yemen's main port in which seven U-S sailors were killed, 36 were wounded, and 10 are missing and presumed dead. VOA's Scott Bobb reports from out Cairo bureau.

TEXT: An official at the British embassy in Sana'a says the explosion occurred early Friday near a building housing the political and commercial sections of the mission. He says the explosion appears to have been caused by a bomb thrown over the compound wall. A guard was on duty at the time but was not hurt.

The attack comes one day after a small boat loaded with explosives blew a large hole in the side of the destroyer U-S-S Cole in the Yemeni port of Aden. The destroyer was refueling at the port before continuing its mission to the Persian Gulf to enforce the embargo against Iraq.

Yemen's President Ali Abdullah Saleh Thursday visited some of the wounded, including two Yemeni citizens, and called for an investigation. U-S authorities have already launched a probe of the attack.

A spokesman for the Fifth Fleet based in Bahrain says Navy investigators and medical personnel arrived in Yemen Friday. Agents of the U-S Federal Bureau of Investigation are expected there in the coming days.

U-S officials say they suspect a terrorist attack. Forces in the region have reportedly been placed on a high state of alert.

No one has claimed responsibility for the bombings, which come amid anti-Israeli and anti-U-S sentiment in the region. Earlier this week the U-S embassy in Sana'a was the scene of a protest against the deaths of Palestinians, during clashes against Israeli forces in Gaza and the West Bank. (Signed)

NEB/SB/GE/KBK