Grenade thrown at U.S. Embassy

SANA'A, Yemen -- A man has been detained after throwing a grenade towards the U.S. Embassy compound in Yemen, security officials said.

No one was hurt when the grenade exploded and there was no damage.

Security officials said the man was not involved in organised crime nor was he involved with the al Qaeda terrorist group.

Yemeni police and soldiers closed off streets around the embassy and searched vehicles after the explosion at 6 p.m. local time (1500 GMT), The Associated Press reported.

State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said two objects were thrown at the perimeter wall of the embassy. They bounced off and exploded.

The blast comes a day after U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney visited Sana'a airport for two hours of talks with Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh about the war on terrorism.

Cheney, who is in neighbouring Oman on a trip of the region, was informed of the incident.

Security in Yemen has been high on the U.S. agenda since a boat packed with explosives slammed into the USS Cole in October 2000, killing 17 American sailors.

Washington has linked the Cole attack to Osama bin Laden.