Reports US will target al-Qaeda elements in Yemen baseless, official

SANA'A, March 22 (Saba) - A Yemeni official source has denied that
the US will carry out land and air strikes against al-Qaeda targets
in Yemen, dismissing reports that a Yemeni official had made
statements for the official website of the United States Department
of Defense over the matter.

The state-run 26sep.net cited the source as saying all information
included in the reports were untrue and baseless.

There is no official source in Yemen who had contacted the website
in New York to tell them about a Yemeni-US deal to crackdown
al-Qaeda militants in the country, the source made clear, adding
some websites deliberately promulgated misinformation for only a
purpose of propaganda.

The announcements coincide with a massive campaign to hunt al-Qaeda
operatives in Yemen after the deadly suicide attack that killed four
South Korean tourists along with a Yemeni guide and injured six
others in eastern Yemen last week.

Few days after the deadly attack, another al-Qaeda suicide bomber
blew himself up targeting a South Korean investigators who arrived
in Yemen on Wednesday to take part in an investigation into the
Shibam attack.

Recently, the Interior Ministry has made public the names of twelve
al-Qaeda fugitives it says have planned to carry out suicide attacks
in the country.

The ministry also announced a reward for information leading for the
capture of the terrorists, warning against sheltering wanted
suspects and criminals.