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Saturday, 15 October 2011

US Strike Kills 9 al-Qaida Militants In Yemen

REMEMBER: God Almighty says in the Holy Quran: Corruption has appeared throughout the land and sea by (reason of) what the hands of people have earned so He may let them taste part of (the consequence of) what they have done that perhaps they will return (to righteousness). (Firman Allah Taala: Telah timbul berbagai kerosakan dan bala bencana di darat dan di laut dengan sebab apa yang telah dilakukan oleh tangan manusia; (timbulnya yang demikian) kerana Allah hendak merasakan mereka sebahagian dari balasan perbuatan-perbuatan buruk yang mereka telah lakukan, supaya mereka kembali (insaf dan bertaubat). (Q.Surah 30 'Ar-Rum: verse 41)

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US strike kills 9 al-Qaida militants in Yemen

Oktober 15, 2011 - Sanaa, Yaman (AP) - Amerika Syarikat telah dibangkitkan tempo dalam perang menentang al-Qaeda di Yaman, membunuh sembilan militan kumpulan pengganas dalam serangan udara kedua, berprofil tinggi dalam beberapa minggu seberapa banyak. Orang mati dalam mogok lewat malam Jumaat termasuk anak Anwar al-Awlaki, Yaman militan terkemuka Amerika yang terbunuh dalam serangan 30 Sept.

Pegawai-pegawai Yaman pada hari Sabtu disebabkan Amerika Syarikat baru-baru ini kejayaan menentang al-Qaeda untuk perisikan yang lebih baik dari tentera Yaman maklumat dan kerjasama dengan Saudi, sekutu lama Arab Washington.

Kejayaan datang walaupun sebagai Yaman jatuh jauh ke dalam kegawatan, dengan Presiden Ali Abdullah Saleh berpaut pada kuasa dalam menghadapi bulan protes besar-besaran.

Sabtu menyaksikan pertumpahan darah terburuk dalam minggu di ibu negara, Sanaa: Sekurang-kurangnya 18 orang terbunuh apabila tentera Saleh menembak ke atas penunjuk perasaan dan bertempur dengan pesaing. Saksi-saksi yang dianggarkan sehingga 300,000 orang menyertai demonstrasi Sabtu ini, yang terbesar di ibu negara dalam beberapa bulan.

"Setiap orang yang mempunyai kepentingan di Yaman, termasuk al-Qaeda dan Amerika, meningkatkan kepentingan pada masa ini yang tidak menentu" kata seorang penganalisis Abdul Bari Taher. "Amerika membuang tiada masa untuk mencuba dan menghapuskan ancaman al-Qaeda sebelum militan menggali lebih mendalam dan tidak boleh dengan mudah tercabut."

Juga mati dalam serangan udara Jumaat di wilayah tenggara Shabwa adalah kelahiran Mesir Ibrahim al-Banna, yang dikenal pasti oleh Kementerian Pertahanan negara sebagai ketua media cawangan Yaman al-Qaeda.

Al-Qaeda di Semenanjung Arab, sebagai cawangan dikenali, dianggap oleh Amerika Syarikat gabungan rangkaian pengganas yang paling berbahaya selepas ia diplotkan dua serangan ke atas tanah Amerika baru-baru ini gagal. Pejuang dan militan Islam yang lain telah mengambil kesempatan daripada huru-hara untuk merampas kawalan ke beberapa bandar dan pekan di wilayah selatan Yaman.

Yang telah menimbulkan kebimbangan Amerika, mereka boleh menubuhkan bertapak lebih kukuh di negara yang strategik yang terletak berhampiran dengan telaga minyak yang besar di Teluk dan menghadap ke laluan perkapalan utama.

Serangan udara Amerika Syarikat di Shabwa menunjuk ke arah penggunaan yang semakin meningkat Washington Drone untuk sasaran militan al-Qaeda di Yaman. Serangan peluru berpandu muncul untuk menjadi sebahagian daripada usaha yang ditentukan untuk membasmi ancaman daripada kumpulan.

Pegawai-pegawai Yaman biasa dengan memandu Amerika Syarikat yang tentera menentang al-Qaeda di Yaman berkata satu anjakan strategi oleh Amerika akhirnya menghasilkan keputusan, dengan aset manusia atas alasan secara langsung menyediakan risikan tindakan komander Amerika Syarikat dan bukannya bergantung sepenuhnya kepada agensi-agensi keselamatan Yaman Amerika telah lama dianggap tidak cekap atau disyaki bocor perkataan pada operasi yang dirancang.

Mereka berkata terdapat sebanyak 3,000 maklumat di dalam senarai gaji Amerika Syarikat (US) di seluruh negara - tanpa mengetahui. Saudi, di sisi lain, secara tradisinya memelihara sistem naungan rumit dan rangkaian maklumat di Yaman, jiran mereka ke selatan.

Mereka telah selama beberapa dekad yang dibayar stipends bulanan kepada pemimpin-pemimpin puak yang utama, komander tentera dan ahli politik untuk menjamin kesetiaan mereka. Mereka juga dibayar Yemenis biasa untuk menyediakan mereka yang memahami.

"Saudi menjadikan maklumat mereka kepada Amerika," kata seorang pegawai pertahanan, semua orang bercakap mengenai dikenali kerana mereka tidak dibenarkan untuk berkongsi maklumat ini. "Kedua-dua mereka dan Amerika meluaskan kerjasama mereka tanpa penglibatan Yaman langsung."

Tua-tua puak di kawasan itu di mana mogok Jumaat mengambil tempat orang mati termasuk Abdul Rahman al-Awlaki, 21-tahun-lama anak Anwar al-Awlaki, satu pendakwah Islam dan pengendali Internet arif yang menjadi satu kuat al-Qaeda merekrut alat di Barat dan yang telah di tangkap-atau-membunuh AS senarai. Yang lebih tua al-Awlaki dan lain propagandis, Pakistan-Amerika Samir Khan, terbunuh dalam srike 30 Sept.

Tua-tua puak, yang bercakap hari Sabtu dengan syarat tidak mahu namanya disiarkan kerana mereka takut tindakan balas, berkata empat orang anggota lain keluarga al-Awlaki dan lain militan tempatan turut terbunuh dalam serangan berdengung yang sama. Tidak ada pengesahan serta-merta kematian muda al-Awlaki daripada pihak berkuasa Yaman.

Pegawai keselamatan berkata mogok itu salah satu daripada lima dijalankan semalaman oleh Drone Amerika pada kedudukan yang disyaki al-Qaeda di Shabwa dan wilayah Abyan jiran di selatan Yaman, sebahagian besarnya tanpa undang-undang. Mereka berkata dua lebih militan terbunuh dan 12 orang cedera dalam mogok lain dalam kedua-dua wilayah itu.

Mogok pertama pada Jumaat mensasarkan sebuah rumah di daerah Azan Shabwa, tetapi melanda selepas militan al-Qaeda mempunyai mesyuarat di dalam bangunan, kata pegawai keselamatan dan tua-tua puak. Mereka berkata mogok kedua itu menyasarkan dua kenderaan utiliti sukan di mana tujuh perjalanan, memusnahkan kenderaan dan meninggalkan tubuh lelaki hangus. Ia tidak jelas sama ada peserta lain dalam mesyuarat itu yang disasarkan dalam mogok yang berasingan.

Cabang al-Qaeda Yaman telah mengambil kesempatan daripada kemelut politik roiling negara. Saleh, yang telah memerintah negara selama lebih daripada 30 tahun, telah berjuang untuk terus berkuasa di muka lapan bulan demonstrasi jalanan besar-besaran yang menuntut penyingkiran beliau dan berpaling tadah kepada pembangkang pembantu utama dan komander tentera.

Di Sanaa, memaksa setia kepada Saleh yang membuka ke atas penunjuk perasaan dengan senapang serangan dan senjata anti-pesawat, pegawai-pegawai perubatan dan saksi berkata. Angka-angka mangsa - 12 mati dan sehingga 300 cedera - telah disahkan oleh Mohammed al-Qubati, pengarah hospital bidang yang ditubuhkan pada Perubahan persegi, nama yang diberikan kepada persimpangan Sanaa tengah yang menyaksikan kelahiran berusia lapan bulan , pemberontakan anti-Saleh.

Pegawai-pegawai perubatan yang tidak mahu dikenali kerana mereka tidak dibenarkan untuk bercakap kepada wartawan. Dalam daerah utara Sanaa. Daripada Hassaba, pertempuran di antara kuasa-kuasa Saleh, di satu sisi dan anti-rejim suku dan tentera murtad di pihak yang lain membunuh dua orang awam dan empat penyokong puak Ketua Sadeq al-Ahmar, satu sekutu sekali rejim yang berpaling tadah kepada pembangkang pada bulan Mac. Sekurang-kurangnya 13 orang cedera dalam peperangan.

Perumahan bangunan tiga tingkat stesen TV bebas, Al-Saeedah, di kawasan itu mengambil hit langsung, memusnahkan peralatan dan studio saluran, menurut satu kenyataan oleh pihak pengurusan. Stesen milik persendirian pergi udara.

Khaled al-Ansi, seorang pemimpin utama gerakan protes, menyalahkan kematian proetsters kepada parti-parti pembangkang, berhujah bahawa penerimaan mereka terhadap pelan yang disokong oleh US-penyelesaian yang dicadangkan oleh jiran-jiran Arab Teluk Yaman memberi lesen Saleh untuk membunuh penunjuk perasaan di akan. Pelan ini memberi pemimpin Yaman untuk meletak jawatan dan tangan lebih kuasa kepada timbalannya sebagai pertukaran untuk imuniti.

"Parti-parti politik adalah peserta dalam pembunuhan," kata al-Ansi. "Kekebalan daripada pendakwaan memberi Saleh sebagai satu fitnah cubaan untuk membunuh lebih ramai daripada kita."

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US strike kills 9 al-Qaida militants in Yemen

October 15, 2011 - SANAA, Yemen (AP) - The United States has raised the tempo in its war against al-Qaida in Yemen, killing nine of the terror group's militants in the second, high-profile airstrike in as many weeks. The dead in the late Friday night strike included the son of Anwar al-Awlaki, the prominent American-Yemeni militant killed in a Sept. 30 strike.

Yemeni officials on Saturday attributed the recent U.S. successes against al-Qaida to better intelligence from an army of Yemeni informers and cooperation with the Saudis, Washington's longtime Arab allies.

The successes come even as Yemen falls deeper into turmoil, with President Ali Abdullah Saleh clinging to power in the face of months of massive protests. Saturday saw the worst bloodshed in weeks in the capital, Sanaa: At least 18 people were killed when Saleh's troops fired on protesters and clashed with rivals. Witnesses estimated up to 300,000 people joined Saturday's demonstrations, the largest in the capital in several months.

"Everyone with interests in Yemen, including al-Qaida and the Americans, is raising the stakes at this time of uncertainty" said analyst Abdul-Bari Taher. "The Americans are wasting no time to try and eliminate the al-Qaida threat before the militants dig in deeper and cannot be easily dislodged."

Also dead in the Friday airstrike in the southeastern province of Shabwa was Egyptian-born Ibrahim al-Banna, identified by the nation's Defense Ministry as the media chief of the Yemeni branch of the al-Qaida.

Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, as the branch is known, is considered by the U.S. the most dangerous of the terror network's affiliates after it plotted two recent failed attacks on American soil. Its fighters and other Islamic militants have taken advantage of Yemen's chaos to seize control of several cities and towns in a southern province. That has raised American fears they can establish a firmer foothold in the strategically located country close to the vast oil fields of the Gulf and overlooking key shipping routes.

The U.S. airstrikes in Shabwa pointed to Washington's growing use of drones to target al-Qaida militants in Yemen. The missile attacks appear to be part of a determined effort to stamp out the threat from the group.

Yemeni officials familiar with the U.S. military drive against al-Qaida in Yemen said a shift of strategy by the Americans was finally yielding results, with human assets on the ground directly providing actionable intelligence to U.S. commanders rather than relying entirely on Yemen's security agencies the Americans had long considered inefficient or even suspected of leaking word on planned operations.

They said there were as many as 3,000 informers on the U.S. payroll around the country — some without even knowing it. The Saudis, on the other hand, have traditionally kept an elaborate patronage system and an information network in Yemen, their neighbor to the south. They have for decades paid monthly stipends to key tribal leaders, military commanders and politicians to secure their loyalty. They also paid ordinary Yemenis to provide them with intelligence.

"The Saudis are making their information available to the Americans," said one of the defense officials, all of whom spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to share the information. "Both them and the Americans are broadening their cooperation without direct Yemeni involvement."

Tribal elders in the area where Friday's strikes took place said the dead included Abdul-Rahman al-Awlaki, the 21-year-old son of Anwar al-Awlaki, a Muslim preacher and savvy Internet operator who became a powerful al-Qaida recruiting tool in the West and who was on a U.S. capture-or-kill list. The elder al-Awlaki and another propagandist, Pakistani-American Samir Khan, were killed in the Sept. 30 srike.

The tribal elders, who spoke Saturday on condition of anonymity because they feared reprisals, said four other members of the al-Awlaki clan and another local militant were also killed in the same drone attack. There was no immediate confirmation of the younger al-Awlaki's death from Yemeni authorities.

Security officials said the strike was one of five carried out overnight by American drones on suspected al-Qaida positions in Shabwa and neighboring Abyan province in Yemen's largely lawless south. They said two more militants were killed and 12 wounded in other strikes in the two provinces.

The first strike late Friday targeted a house in the Azan district of Shabwa, but hit just after al-Qaida militants had a meeting in the building, security officials and tribal elders said. They said a second strike then targeted two sport utility vehicles in which the seven were traveling, destroying the vehicles and leaving the men's bodies charred. It was not clear whether other participants in the meeting were targeted in separate strikes.

Yemen's al-Qaida offshoot has taken advantage of the political turmoil roiling the country. Saleh, who has ruled the country for more than 30 years, has been struggling to stay in power in the face of eight months of massive street protests demanding his ouster and the defection to the opposition of key aides and military commanders.

In Sanaa, forces loyal to Saleh opened up on protesters with assault rifles and anti-aircraft guns, medical officials and witnesses said. The casualty figures — 12 dead and up to 300 wounded — were confirmed by Mohammed al-Qubati, director of the field hospital set up at Change square, the name given to a central Sanaa intersection that saw the birth of the eight-month-old, anti-Saleh uprising.

The medical officials requested anonymity because they were not allowed to speak to journalists. In Sanaa's northern district of Hassaba, fighting between Saleh's forces on one side and anti-regime tribesmen and renegade troops on the other killed two civilians and four supporters of tribal chief Sadeq al-Ahmar, a one-time regime ally who defected to the opposition in March. At least 13 people were wounded in the fighting.

A three-story building housing an independent TV station, Al-Saeedah, in the area took a direct hit, destroying the channel's equipment and studios, according to a statement by the management. The privately-owned station went off the air.

Khaled al-Ansi, a prominent leader of the protest movement, blamed the death of the proetsters on opposition parties, arguing that their acceptance of a U.S.-backed settlement plan proposed by Yemen's Gulf Arab neighbors gave Saleh license to kill protesters at will. The plan provides for the Yemeni leader to step down and hand over power to his deputy in exchange for immunity.

"The political parties are participants in the killings," said al-Ansi. "The immunity from prosecution is giving Saleh a temptation to kill more of us."

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Yemen berkata, Mogok Amerika Syarikat Membunuh Ketua Media al-Qaeda

REMEMBER: God Almighty says in the Holy Quran: Corruption has appeared throughout the land and sea by (reason of) what the hands of people have earned so He may let them taste part of (the consequence of) what they have done that perhaps they will return (to righteousness). (Firman Allah Taala: Telah timbul berbagai kerosakan dan bala bencana di darat dan di laut dengan sebab apa yang telah dilakukan oleh tangan manusia; (timbulnya yang demikian) kerana Allah hendak merasakan mereka sebahagian dari balasan perbuatan-perbuatan buruk yang mereka telah lakukan, supaya mereka kembali (insaf dan bertaubat). (Q.Surah 30 'Ar-Rum: verse 41)

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Yaman berkata, Mogok Amerika Syarikat Membunuh Ketua Media al-Qaeda

Oktober 15, 2011 - Sanaa, Yaman (AP) - berdengung mogok Amerika di selatan Yaman telah membunuh 9 militan al-Qaeda-berkaitan, termasuk ketua yang media bagi cawangan Yaman kumpulan dan anak satu ulama terkemuka Amerika Syarikat-lahir dibunuh dalam satu serangan yang sama bulan lepas, pegawai kerajaan dan orang yang lebih tua suku kata.

Sementara itu, di ibu negara, memaksa setia kepada embattled Presiden Ali Abdullah Saleh melepaskan tembakan ke atas penunjuk perasaan, membunuh sekurang-kurangnya sembilan dan skor mencederakan, menurut pegawai-pegawai perubatan dan saksi.

Dalam sebuah daerah utara Sanaa, pertempuran di antara kuasa-kuasa Saleh dan suku anti-rejim dan tentera murtad membunuh empat penyokong pemimpin puak dan 2 orang awam. Sekurang-kurangnya 13 orang juga cedera, termasuk enam orang awam.

Serangan udara pada Jumaat di wilayah tenggara Shabwa menunjuk ke arah penggunaan yang semakin meningkat Washington Drone untuk sasaran militan al-Qaeda di Yaman.

Serangan peluru berpandu muncul untuk menjadi sebahagian daripada usaha yang ditentukan untuk membasmi ancaman daripada kumpulan yang dikenali sebagai al-Qaeda di Semenanjung Arab, pegawai Amerika Syarikat berkata adalah cawangan rangkaian pengganas yang paling aktif dan paling berbahaya.

Kementerian Pertahanan Yaman mengenal pasti media ketua yang dibunuh sebagai yang dilahirkan di Mesir-Ibrahim al-Bana. Puak tua-tua di kawasan itu juga kata orang mati termasuk Abdul Rahman al-Awlaki, anak lelaki berusia 21-tahun-Anwar al-Awlaki, seorang pendakwah Islam dan pengendali internet yang arif yang menjadi alat merekrut yang kuat al-Qaeda di Barat. Beliau bersama-sama lain propagandis, Pakistan-Amerika Samir Khan, terbunuh pada 30 Sept berdengung serangan Amerika Syarikat.

Cawangan Yaman al-Qaeda telah mengaku bertanggungjawab untuk menghantar bakal pengebom bunuh diri yang gagal untuk meletupkan penerbangan yang terikat dengan Detroit pada bulan Disember 2009 dengan bahan letupan dijahit ke dalam seluar.

Puak tua-tua, yang bercakap hari Sabtu dengan syarat tidak mahu namanya disiarkan kerana mereka takut tindakan balas, berkata 4 orang anggota lain keluarga al-Awlaki dan lain militan tempatan turut terbunuh dalam serangan berdengung yang sama. Tidak ada pengesahan serta-merta kematian muda al-Awlaki daripada pihak berkuasa Yaman.

Pegawai keselamatan berkata mogok berdengung adalah salah satu daripada lima dijalankan semalaman oleh Drone Amerika pada kedudukan yang disyaki al-Qaeda di Shabwa dan wilayah jiran Abyan di selatan Yaman, sebahagian besarnya tanpa undang-undang. Mereka berkata dua lebih militan terbunuh dan 12 orang cedera dalam mogok lain dalam kedua-dua wilayah itu.

Mogok pertama pada Jumaat mensasarkan sebuah rumah di daerah Azan Shabwa, tetapi melanda selepas militan al-Qaeda mempunyai mesyuarat di dalam bangunan, kata pegawai keselamatan dan puak tua-tua.

Mereka berkata mogok kedua itu menyasarkan dua kenderaan utiliti sukan di mana al-Bana dan 6 yang lain adalah perjalanan, memusnahkan kenderaan dan meninggalkan tubuh lelaki hangus. Ia tidak jelas sama ada peserta lain dalam mesyuarat itu yang disasarkan dalam mogok yang berasingan.

Militan yang dikaitkan dengan al-Qaeda di Semenanjung Arab telah mengambil alih beberapa bandar di selatan, meningkatkan kebimbangan bahawa mereka boleh menubuhkan sebuah kubu kuat yang tetap di negara ini terletak di lokasi strategik.

Yaman terletak di hujung selatan Semenanjung Arab, yang paling dekat dengan Arab Saudi dan negara-negara pengeluar minyak di Teluk. Ia juga menghadap laluan laut strategik yang menuju ke Terusan Suez.

Dalam perkembangan berasingan, pegawai-pegawai keselamatan berkata disyaki militan al-Qaeda mengebom saluran paip gas utama bawah tanah yang meluas dari kawasan Balhaf dalam Shabwa ke terminal eksport di Laut Arab. Serangan malam Jumaat memulakan api besar-besaran, dengan tiang api yang menerangi langit malam.

Pegawai-pegawai keselamatan berkata bukan Yaman pekerja syarikat Perancis yang menjalankan bidang gas dan saluran paip di Balhaf telah dipindahkan ke Sanaa kapal tiga helikopter untuk keselamatan mereka. Mereka tidak mempunyai maklumat lanjut.

Di Sanaa, memaksa setia kepada Saleh yang membuka ke atas penunjuk perasaan dengan senapang serangan dan senjata anti-pesawat, pegawai-pegawai perubatan dan saksi berkata. Mereka berkata sekurang-kurangnya 180 orang cedera. Yang tercedera telah diangkut ke hospital dalam ambulans dan pada motosikal. Tembakan kedengaran di kawasan pertempuran ke petang.

Pegawai-pegawai perubatan yang tidak mahu dikenali kerana mereka tidak dibenarkan untuk bercakap kepada wartawan. Cengkerang mortar di tempat lain dalam modal, rejim anti-suku dan kuasa-kuasa kerajaan diniagakan dan roket bom tangan digerakkan.

Pertempuran yang bermula semalaman di utara modal Hassaba daerah, membunuh 4 suku dan 2 orang awam. Seperti sebelum ini, pertempuran yang memaksa pihak berkuasa untuk menutup lapangan terbang antarabangsa utama negara, yang berdekatan.

Tiba penerbangan dialihkan ke bandar pelabuhan selatan Aden, pegawai lapangan terbang itu berkata, bercakap dengan syarat tidak mahu namanya disiarkan kerana mereka tidak diberi kuasa untuk mengeluarkan maklumat.

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Yemen says US strike kills al-Qaida media chief

October 15, 2011 - SANAA, Yemen (AP) - American drone strikes in southern Yemen have killed nine al-Qaida-linked militants, including the media chief for the group's Yemeni branch and the son of a prominent U.S.-born cleric slain in a similar attack last month, government officials and tribal elders said Saturday.

In the capital, meanwhile, forces loyal to embattled President Ali Abdullah Saleh opened fire on protesters, killing at least nine and wounding scores, according to medical officials and witnesses.

In a northern district of Sanaa, fighting between Saleh's forces and anti-regime tribesmen and renegade troops killed four supporters of a tribal leader and two civilians. At least 13 people also were wounded, including six civilians.

The airstrikes late Friday in the southeastern province of Shabwa pointed to Washington's growing use of drones to target al-Qaida militants in Yemen. The missile attacks appear to be part of a determined effort to stamp out the threat from the group, known as al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, which U.S. officials have said is the terror network's most active and most dangerous branch.

The Yemeni Defense Ministry identified the slain media chief as Egyptian-born Ibrahim al-Bana. Tribal elders in the area also said the dead included Abdul-Rahman al-Awlaki, the 21-year-old son of Anwar al-Awlaki, a Muslim preacher and savvy Internet operator who became a powerful al-Qaida recruiting tool in the West. He, along with another propagandist, Pakistani-American Samir Khan, were killed in a Sept. 30 U.S. drone attack.

Yemen's al-Qaida branch has claimed responsibility for dispatching the would-be suicide bomber who failed to blow up a Detroit-bound flight in December 2009 with explosives sewn into his underwear.

Security officials said the drone strike was one of five carried out overnight by American drones on suspected al-Qaida positions in Shabwa and the neighboring province of Abyan in Yemen's largely lawless south. They said two more militants were killed and 12 wounded in other strikes in the two provinces.

The first strike late Friday targeted a house in the Azan district of Shabwa, but hit just after al-Qaida militants had a meeting in the building, security officials and tribal elders said.

They said a second strike then targeted two sport utility vehicles in which al-Bana and the six others were traveling, destroying the vehicles and leaving the men's bodies charred. It was not clear whether other participants in the meeting were targeted in separate strikes.

Militants linked to al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula have taken over several cities in the south, raising fears that they could establish a permanent stronghold in this strategically located nation. Yemen is located at the southern tip of the Arabian Peninsula, on the doorstep of Saudi Arabia and the oil-producing nations of the Gulf. It also overlooks strategic sea routes leading to the Suez Canal.

In a separate development, the security officials said suspected al-Qaida militants bombed a key underground gas pipeline that extends from the Balhaf area in Shabwa to an export terminal on the Arabian Sea. The Friday night attack started a massive fire, with columns of flames illuminating the night sky.

The security officials said non-Yemeni employees of the French company running the gas field and pipeline in Balhaf have been evacuated to Sanaa aboard three helicopters for their safety. They had no more details.

In Sanaa, forces loyal to Saleh opened up on protesters with assault rifles and anti-aircraft guns, medical officials and witnesses said. They said at least 180 people were wounded. The wounded were ferried to a hospital in ambulances and on motorbikes. Gunfire could be heard in the area of the clashes well into the afternoon.

The medical officials requested anonymity because they were not allowed to speak to journalists. Elsewhere in the capital, anti-regime tribesmen and government forces traded mortar shells and rocket propelled grenades.

The fighting, which began overnight in the capital's northern Hassaba district, killed four tribesmen and two civilians. As in the past, the fighting forced authorities to close the country's main international airport, which is nearby.

Arriving flights were diverted to the southern port city of Aden, airport officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release the information.