Washington ? A man who set himself afire Monday just outside a White House gate reportedly worked for the FBI as an informant and was distraught over his inability to return to Yemen to visit his critically 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 acted quickly to extinguish the flames, emergency medical technicians said he suffered burns on his hands, neck and face.

Members of the uniformed division of the Secret Service guard Mohamed Alanssi on the ground after he set himself on fire outside the White House fence on Pennsylvania Ave. Secret Service agents were able to treat the man Monday, though he suffered second- and third-degree burns.

“I can confirm that there was an ignitable liquid present on the scene,” said Alan Etter, a spokesman for the D.C. Fire and Emergency Medical Services Department. Alanssi was taken to Washington Hospital Center for treatment of non-life-threatening injuries.

The Washington 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.”

In 2003, Alanssi was the subject of a Washington Post story describing his role as an informant for the FBI, giving details 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.