President Ali Abdullah Saleh was wounded when rebellious tribesmen struck his palace with rockets, targeting him for the first time in a dramatic escalation of fighting that has turned parts of the Yemeni capital into a battleground and pushed the country toward civil war.

YEMENI President Ali Abdullah Saleh suffered minor injuries when opposition tribesmen hammered his palace with rockets yesterday in a major escalation of nearly two weeks of fighting with government forces.

Wounded Yemen President Ali Abdullah Saleh tonight called on armed forces around the country to move against the “armed gangs” who hit his palace with rockets.

The man accused of attempting to blow up a US-bound airliner on Christmas Day was recruited by al-Qaida in London, a senior minister in Yemen’s government claimed today.