Report: Al-Qaeda militants behead three in Yemen for "spying"

Feb 12, 2012, 13:18 GMT

Sana'a - A militant group with links to al-Qaeda Sunday beheaded three people in southern Yemen allegedly for spying for the United States, reported local media.

The three - one Yemeni and two Saudis - were executed by insurgents from the Supporters of al-Sharia, an affiliate of al-Qaeda, said the Yemeni website Barakish.net, citing local sources.

The executions were carried out in the towns of Jaar and Azan in southern Yemen where al-Qaeda radicals have a strong foothold, added the report. There was no immediate official comment.

Insurgents, suspected of links with al-Qaeda, have taken advantage of a year of political turmoil in Yemen to expand their influence in the impoverished Arabian Peninsula country.

Outgoing President Ali Abdullah Saleh has used the threat of militants to seek support from the West and extend his stay in power, despite months of protest against him.

The US occasionally launches raids by drones in southern Yemen targeting suspected al-Qaeda operatives.

In September, al-Qaeda's spiritual leader in Yemen, Anwar al-Awlaki, was killed by US unmanned aircraft.

Elsewhere in southern Yemen, at least 16 people were injured when separatists attacked pro-reform activists, a local news website reported Sunday.

Hundreds from the Southern Movement, which is pushing for the separation of southern Yemen, late Saturday torched tents pitched by the activists in the Freedom Square in the city of Aden, according to Mareb Press.

Leaders of the Southern Movement Sunday denied involvement in the attack, blaming it on unnamed powers in Yemen.

They warned in a statement of alleged attempts by 'forces in (the capital) Sana'a to drag Aden and the South's people into conflicts and sedition.'

The violence comes less than two weeks before an early presidential election in the country.

'The assailants used petrol bombs in torching the tents while some activists were inside them,' Mareb Press quoted Ali Qassem, the head of the city's Revolution Organization, as saying.

The separatists in southern Yemen are calling for a boycott on the presidential election set for February 21.

In November, Saleh signed a United Nations-backed deal to step down after 33 years in power, in return for immunity from prosecution.

The parliament unanimously nominated Vice President Abd Rabbu Mansur Hadi as the sole presidential candidate for the polls.