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03-07-07, 20:29
Yemen bomb kills Spanish tourists
At least nine people have been killed after a suicide bomber drove an explosives-laden car into a tourist convoy in Yemen.
Seven Spanish tourists and at least two Yemenis died in the blast at the Queen of Sheba temple in Marib.
About seven others were injured in the attack which the Spanish foreign minister said he "totally condemned".
Yemen has faced continuing unrest in recent years, which the government often blames on al-Qaeda operatives.
An interior ministry official was quoted by the country's state news agency as saying that the attack appeared to have been carried out by al-Qaeda.
"Preliminary information indicates that the al-Qaeda organisation is behind the cowardly attack," the official told the Saba news agency.
Witnesses said a vehicle entered a gate at the site, known in Yemen by its Arabic name Balqis, before it ploughed into the convoy of tourist cars and exploded.
The victims were reported to belong to a group of around 14 Spanish tourists visiting the site, some 170km (110 miles) east of the capital, Sanaa.
Witnesses said the bomb went off at around 1800 (1500 GMT) on Monday as the visitors were finishing a tour of the temple, built 3,000 years ago at the time of the Queen of Sheba.
In recent year's Yemen's government has been fighting Islamists with the help of US special forces based in Djibouti, on the Horn of Africa.
Al-Qaeda has demanded the release of militants jailed in the country.
Al die westerlingen lijken ook op elkaar. Komt nog bij dat toeristen niks te zoeken hebben bij heidense monumenten, en intussen de islam negeren, zo meldde een Yemeniet.
At least nine people have been killed after a suicide bomber drove an explosives-laden car into a tourist convoy in Yemen.
Seven Spanish tourists and at least two Yemenis died in the blast at the Queen of Sheba temple in Marib.
About seven others were injured in the attack which the Spanish foreign minister said he "totally condemned".
Yemen has faced continuing unrest in recent years, which the government often blames on al-Qaeda operatives.
An interior ministry official was quoted by the country's state news agency as saying that the attack appeared to have been carried out by al-Qaeda.
"Preliminary information indicates that the al-Qaeda organisation is behind the cowardly attack," the official told the Saba news agency.
Witnesses said a vehicle entered a gate at the site, known in Yemen by its Arabic name Balqis, before it ploughed into the convoy of tourist cars and exploded.
The victims were reported to belong to a group of around 14 Spanish tourists visiting the site, some 170km (110 miles) east of the capital, Sanaa.
Witnesses said the bomb went off at around 1800 (1500 GMT) on Monday as the visitors were finishing a tour of the temple, built 3,000 years ago at the time of the Queen of Sheba.
In recent year's Yemen's government has been fighting Islamists with the help of US special forces based in Djibouti, on the Horn of Africa.
Al-Qaeda has demanded the release of militants jailed in the country.
Al die westerlingen lijken ook op elkaar. Komt nog bij dat toeristen niks te zoeken hebben bij heidense monumenten, en intussen de islam negeren, zo meldde een Yemeniet.