Jeddah/London, Asharq Al-Awsat- According to sources close to the Yemeni government, a joint task force made up of Yemeni and American investigators, who’s assistance was requested by the Yemeni government, is making significant process in the investigation of the attack on Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh and a number of senior officials of his government in the Al-Nahdayn Mosque on 3 June, Asharq Al-Awsat can reveal.

According to the source who spoke to Asharq Al-Awsat on the condition of anonymity, a number of those injured in the attack and their relatives believe that an inflammable chemical material that burns the skin and does not affect hair and clothes was used in the attack. As an evidence of this fact, the source noted, pictures showed the Yemeni president and Al-Nahdayn Mosque imam Sheikh Ali Muhsin al-Matari with moustaches and beards. Moreover, the source added, the carpets in the mosque were not burned, as were seen in pictures published by the media after the assassination attempt against President Ali Abdullah Saleh and his aides.

Meanwhile, Ahmad Numan Duwayd, son of the Sanaa governor, spoke to Asharq Al-Awsat from a hospital in Riyadh where he is being treated along with his father, following reports that he had died or disappeared. The Sanaa governor’s son returned to the Yemeni capital from the United States a day before the incident.

Speaking to Asharq Al-Awsat, Duwayd reassured his colleagues and relatives that he and his father, the governor, are in good health. He dismissed reports that his father’s hand or foot was amputated. He said they only suffered minor burns to the face and hands. He added: “I recovered and express our loyalty and support to the brother president.”

For his part, Ali al-Rasabi, an aide to Yemeni House of Representatives Speaker Yahya al-Rai, told Asharq Al-Awsat that he is in good health and has recovered. He added that he is currently undergoing some medical checkups and that doctors told him not to talk today.

Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh appeared on television last Thursday for the first time since he left for Saudi Arabia for treatment following an assassination attempt against him and a raid on the presidential palace compound.

President Saleh, who suffered burns to the face, appeared weak but showed determination to cling to power in spite of international pressure and six months of protests against his rule that began 33 years ago.