300 Yemenis fought in region - Al Qaida leader

Sana'a: About 300 Yemeni young men affiliated to Al Qaida went to Iraq, Afghanistan and Somalia for Jihad during 2008, said an alleged Al Qaida military leader on Wednesday.

"More than 300 young men from the land of Yemen who are members of the organisation joined their brothers in Iraq, Afghanistan and Somalia during 2008," said Abu Osama, member of the military council of Al Qaida and commander of the Yemen brigades.

In a statement published by the local independent weekly newspaper Al Wasat, Abu Osama said that Al Qaida in Yemen has become stronger than ever before.

He also said mediation efforts between Al Qaida and the Yemeni government are now in a deadlock.

"Nothing is left between us and them (government) except for the sword," said the statement.

This was not the first time to send such statements to the same paper.

Many similar statements were previously sent to the paper especially after specific armed confrontations between Al Qaida and Yemeni security forces.

Officials claimed the statements were merely fabricated emails, when questioned by Gulf News.

This latest statement came two days after two Al Qaida militants were killed and another was injured and arrested in clashes with the security forces in the capital Sana'a.

After the Monday operation, security officials said they had thwarted a plan to target government and western interests by obtaining information from those arrested.

However, Abu Osama played down the importance of the arrest.

" He is young and has no important information about the Al Qaida organization in Yemen, '' the statement read.

Abu Osama said that his organization had achieved many of its goals targeting government, tourism and oil industries. He also threatened more attacks.