Yemen executes man for politician's murder

SANAA - A Yemeni firing squad executed an Islamic militant who was sentenced to death for the murder of a prominent secular opposition leader in the Arab state, journalists said.

Ali Jarallah, a member of the Islamist opposition Islah party, was found guilty of gunning down Jarallah Omar, deputy head of the Yemeni Socialist Party, at a party conference in 2002.

"I die as a martyr and will go to heaven," journalists quoted Jarallah as saying before his execution at a prison in the capital Sanaa. "I call on you to continue the jihad (holy war) against secularists and Christian missionaries."

Ali Jarallah was known for criticising moderates in his party and the government. Officials say he was a comrade of an Islamic militant who was sentenced to death for killing three Americans at a Baptist mission hospital in Yemen in 2002.

Yemen has cracked down on al Qaeda-linked and other Islamic militants following attacks at home, including the 2000 USS Cole bombing and the 2002 attack on the French supertanker Limburg.

- REUTERS