SANAA: Yemen yesterday offered a cash reward for information leading to the arrest of 12 men it said were preparing new attacks.
The weekly newspaper September 26, published by the Defense Ministry, printed photographs of the 12 Yemenis aged between 18 and 29, with an Interior Ministry statement asking them to give themselves up and appealing to citizens for information in exchange for an unspecified sum of money.
“They were being prepared to carry out terrorist and destructive acts,” it said, describing them as Al-Qaeda members.
Four Korean tourists were killed this week in an attack that the government blamed on Al-Qaeda and said it was carried out by a militant trained in Somalia.
On Wednesday, a man blew himself up near Sanaa International Airport in an apparent attempt to target a convoy of South Koreans who had arrived to investigate the tourist deaths. The bombings took place after calls by Al-Qaeda leaders to target non-Muslim foreigners in the Arabian Peninsula and are likely to hit the poverty-stricken country’s fledgling tourist industry.
Violence in Yemen has affected foreign firms developing its oil and gas sector, while attacks on foreigners and kidnappings by tribesmen have hit tourism, diplomats say.
South Korea yesterday urged its citizens to leave Yemen. Seoul has designated the entire country as a “travel restriction” area and strongly advised its citizens to avoid it.
“A Stage Three warning against traveling is in effect for the whole territory of Yemen,” said Foreign Ministry spokesman Moon Tae-young.
“Koreans are urged to refrain from traveling to Yemen and those who are staying there are urged to return home as best they can.”
The ministry said there are now some 220 South Koreans in Yemen.
