KEY POINTS:
Gunmen opened fire on a group of tourists in eastern Yemen yesterday, killing two Belgian women, their Yemeni driver and a Yemeni man believed to be a tourist guide, a security official said.
A Belgian tourist and a Yemeni were wounded in the incident.
"There were about 15 people in the tourist group in Hadramout province, including the driver and guides," the official said. "Security forces are looking for the attackers," he said, adding that helicopters had joined the hunt for the unidentified gunmen.
Last July, a suicide bombing killed seven Spanish tourists and wounded six at the Queen of Sheba Temple, built around the 10th century BC. Two Yemenis were also killed.
Yemen, which joined the US-led war on terrorism after al Qaeda's September 11, 2001 attacks on US cities, has often been the site of militant attacks and kidnappings of tourists by disgruntled tribesmen.
The ancestral home of al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, Yemen is viewed in the West as a haven for Islamic militants.
In an internet posting last week, al Qaeda's wing in Yemen vowed to free its prisoners from the country's jails and retaliate for the killings of militants by the government.
Officials said last year that July's attack had been preceded by an al Qaeda demand for the release of jailed comrades.
"By God we shall not rest... until we free our brothers and sisters from the prisons," the group said in an e-magazine posted on an Islamist website on January 12.
Dozens of al Qaeda militants are serving jail terms in the country on the Arabian Peninsula for involvement in bombings of Western targets and clashes with the authorities.
One of the poorest countries outside Africa, Yemen has been trying to attract tourists put off by kidnappings and bomb attacks and boost foreign investment as its oil dwindles.
In November, Yemen jailed 32 suspected militants over two foiled suicide attacks on oil and gas installations in 2006, which came days after al Qaeda urged Muslims to target Western interests.
Al Qaeda's wing in Yemen claimed responsibility for the foiled raids and vowed more strikes.
- REUTERS
