The Yemeni Interior Ministry said another six Spanish tourists and two Yemenis were injured when a car laden with explosives rammed two central vehicles in a tourist convoy, which also contained two Yemeni security cars. The people were attacked as they left the ancient Queen of Sheba Temple in the Marib province.
Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh expressed his condolences to Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Zapatero and the victims during a telephone conversation, the Al-Ayam newspaper said. The Yemeni leader also promised to bring the culprits, suspected al-Qaeda operatives, to justice.
An Interior Ministry official said al-Qaeda had apparently masterminded the attack and described the incident as "a shameful criminal action targeted against Islam, Muslims and national interests."
An ancestral home of al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, the Marib province is known as a dangerous site for foreign tourists as the terrorist network has vowed to do away with Western facilities and influence in the area.
Western representatives have been repeatedly targeted in the country. In 2000, al-Qaeda suicide bombers blew up the U.S. warship Cole in the port of Aden killing 17 U.S. seamen. In 2002, militants bombed the French oil supertanker Limburg off Yemen's coast. The masterminds behind the attacks were arrested. In 2006, Yemeni security forces foiled an attack on the U.S. Embassy in Sanaa.
