Suspected al Qaeda bombing kills 5 in Yemen

SANAA, July 2 (Reuters) At least four Spanish tourists and one Yemeni were killed in a suspected al Qaeda car bomb attack in Yemen's eastern province of Marib today, security and provincial authority sources said.

Security sources said the ''terrorist attack'' followed an al Qaeda statement demanding the release of some of its members jailed in the Arab state and warned of unspecified actions.

''According to preliminary information the blast could be the result of a car bomb that hit a convoy of (Spanish) tourists ...

the initial information indicates that at least four of them were killed and seven were wounded,'' the source told Reuters.

The source, who said there were 13 Spanish tourists in the group, said two Yemenis were also wounded in the explosion.

Yemen is the ancestral home of al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. It joined the US-led war on terrorism launched after the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States in 2001 and has been battling Islamic militants for years.

The security sources said al Qaeda also demanded that Sanaa reconsider its cooperation with Washington.

Yemen foiled two suicide attacks on oil and gas installations in 2006, days after al Qaeda urged Muslims to target Western interests, especially oil installations.

Al Qaeda's wing in Yemen claimed responsibility for the attacks and vowed more strikes in the Arab state.

In 2002 militants bombed the French oil supertanker Limburg off Yemen's coast. In 2000, a suicide attack on the US warship Cole killed 17 US sailors.

Yemen, on the southern tip of the Arabian Peninsula, has been widely seen in the West as a haven for Muslim militants, including al Qaeda supporters.

REUTERS RKM HS2145