Hollande condemns cowardly attack on EU security team in Yemen

PARIS (AFP) - France condemned as "cowardly" an attack on the EU's security team in Yemen on Monday that left one Frenchman dead and two others injured.

The Frenchman, employed by a private security firm working for the European Union's delegation, was killed and his colleague injured when armed men opened fire on their car in a diplomatic area of the capital Sanaa.

Their Yemenese driver was also injured in the assault, a security source told AFP, adding that the attackers had successfully escaped.

French President Francois Hollande described the attack in Sanaa as "cowardly" and said his government would use "all its powers to shine a light on the circumstances of this odious act so that its authors are rapidly identified".

The EU's foreign representative, Catherine Ashton, said the attack was "evil and senseless".

"I condemn in the strongest terms the killing today, in Sanaa, of a member of the team providing security to the EU Delegation and the wounding of two others," Ashton said in a statement.

"The EU's presence in Yemen aims only to assist the country in its transition to democracy and in its economic development. To target persons engaged in this effort is evil and senseless."

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