Top al-Qaida man killed in Yemen blast

One of Osama bin Laden’s top operatives and five other suspected members of al-Qaida were killed today when their car blew up in Yemen.

Tribesmen in the area told The Associated Press said they saw a military helicopter hovering overhead shortly before the explosion, suggesting the car may have been attacked from the air.

The official Yemen news agency said “initial information” indicated that the dead included Ali Qaed Sinan al-Harthi, a senior al-Qaida figure in Yemen.

An official said the blast occurred at dawn in the northern province of Marib, about 100 miles from the capital San’a.

Tribesmen in the area, however, said the explosion occurred on Sunday afternoon.

“Authorities have been monitoring this particular car for a while and we believe those men belonged to al-Qaida terror network,” the official said.

It was unclear how the blast happened. Officials first theorised the car blew up because the men were carrying explosives which may have been triggered accidentally.

“I saw a helicopter hovering overhead and I heard an explosion,” one tribesman said. ”The car was on fire and the area around it was covered in smoke.”

The explosion occurred in an area where al-Qaida is believed active.

On Sunday, a helicopter carrying US oil company staff came under small-arms fire just after takeoff, forcing an emergency landing at San‘a airport that slightly injured two people. It wasn’t clear who was responsible.

In August, US trained Yemeni troops deployed in Marib, a tribal stronghold where authorities believe al-Qaida members or supporters are operating.

Beyond tribal disputes, Yemen long has tolerated Muslim extremists. It is also the ancestral homeland of bin Laden, accused of masterminding the September 11 attacks and the October 2000 blast on the US destroyer Cole while it was refuelling in Aden. Seventeen sailors were killed.

Last month, a blast caused by an explosive-laden boat crippled a French oil tanker off Yemen, killing a Bulgarian crew member and spilling 90,000 barrels of crude oil.