Yemen forces kill Egyptian bombing suspect

SANAA, July 5 (Reuters) Yemeni security forces killed an Egyptian in a shootout in Sanaa on Thursday as they tried to arrest the man suspected of a role in today's car bomb suicide attack which killed nine people, a government official said.

The official said security forces were also trying to track down other suspected militants believed to be involved in the attack at the Queen of Sheba Temple in Marib which killed seven Spanish tourists and wounded six. Two Yemenis were also killed.

President Ali Abdullah Saleh and other senior officials have said they believe al Qaeda was behind the suicide car bombing.

The official did not disclose the name of the suspect but said he had lived in Yemen for several years and was married to a Yemeni woman.

''The forces surrounded his house at dawn but he started shooting,'' the official said, adding that two soldiers were wounded in the clash.

A security source said on Monday the bomber may be one of 13 convicted al Qaeda members who escaped from prison in 2006, but Saleh said on Tuesday evidence so far indicated he was a non-Yemeni Arab.

The authorities have arrested dozens of people with suspected links to al Qaeda after the attack near Marib about 150 km east of the capital.

Saleh, whose country joined the US-led war on terrorism after al Qaeda's September. 11, 2001 attacks on US cities, offered a 75,500 dollars reward for information leading to the capture of militants behind the attack.

Spanish investigators arrived in Yemen on Wednesday to take part in the investigation.

Security sources have said al Qaeda issued a statement last week demanding the release of some of its members jailed in Yemen -- which has been battling Islamist militants for years -- and threatening to take unspecified action.

Yemen, the ancestral home of al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, is viewed in the West as a haven for Islamist militants.

It has seen several spectacular bombings.

One of the poorest countries outside Africa, Yemen has been trying to encourage tourists put off by kidnappings and bomb attacks and boost foreign investment as its oil dwindles.

Yemen foiled two suicide attacks on oil and gas installations in 2006, days after al Qaeda urged Muslims to target Western interests. Al Qaeda's wing in Yemen claimed responsibility for the foiled attacks and vowed more strikes.

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