Hundreds of rioting workers damaged a gas export terminal under construction in southeastern Yemen today and set fire to cars and a helicopter belonging to the facility, security sources said.
The sources and witnesses said around 400 workers were protesting against the alleged defilement of the Muslim holy book, the Koran, by a French engineer at the facility.
The liquefied natural gas project in Belhaf is being led by France's Total.
The Yemen LNG project, one of the main growth projects for the French energy giant, is due to start by the end of 2008 with two trains and produce 6.7 million metric tonnes a year.
The security sources said the Yemeni army had intervened to calm the violence and had evacuated the French engineer at the centre of the row.