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Man Sets Himself on Fire Near White House

Posted on: Tuesday, 16 November 2004, 06:00 CST

WASHINGTON - A man who set himself afire near the White House was upset with the way he was being treated as an FBI informant, specifically complaining to The Washington Post about his inability to return to Yemen to visit his ill wife.

Mohamed Alanssi, 52, arrived at the White House gate just before 2 p.m. Monday with a letter addressed to President Bush. After talking briefly with uniformed Secret Service officers, he pulled a lighter from his pocket and set his clothing ablaze.

Although the officers, who had been alerted by the Post, acted quickly to extinguish the flames, emergency medical technicians said he suffered burns on his hands, neck and face.

Alanssi was taken to Washington Hospital Center for treatment of non-life-threatening injuries.

The Post reported that Alanssi, who also used the name Mohamed Alhadrami, had informed the newspaper of his plans early Monday. He told The Post by fax and telephone that he was "going to burn my body at unexpected place." He also faxed a letter to an FBI agent in New York who has had contact with him, the Post reported.

The paper said it alerted the New York agent about its contact with Alanssi and subsequently informed District of Columbia police when it learned from the man in a series of three telephone calls that he planned to set himself on fire outside the White House. The paper said D.C. police subsequently alerted federal authorities with jurisdiction around the White House.

In 2003, Alanssi was the subject of a Washington Post story describing his role as an informant for the FBI, providing information on terrorist financiers in Yemen.

Alanssi, of Falls Church, Va., told the Post in recent interviews that he was upset because he could not travel to Yemen to visit his ailing wife, who has stomach cancer. He also said the FBI had not kept promises it made to him to secure his assistance.

The investigation into Monday's incident is being handled jointly by the Secret Service and the U.S. Park Police, which has jurisdiction over Pennsylvania Avenue immediately outside the White House fence. That section of Pennsylvania Avenue was recently reopened to pedestrians after being closed for security.

Witnesses reported hearing screams and seeing a man in flames. The man's right trouser leg was burned.

Jim Clarke of Burke, Va., was walking his dog when the incident occurred. He said Secret Service agents acted quickly and used an extinguisher to put out the flames.

Source: Associated Press/AP Online

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