Yemeni police have arrested two armed men in the south of the country who said they were members of Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network.
"The two men admitted they were members of Al-Qaeda, after their arrest in the Abyan province," east of Aden, the south's largest city, said a police source.
The men were questioned following a roadcheck by police that led to the discovery of bombs and other explosives in their minibus, Yemeni newspaper Al-Ayyamreported.
While they were being transferred to Abyan police headquarters, the two men managed to fire shots at the two policemen accompanying them using a hidden firearm and killed one officer before fleeing, the newspaper reported.
Security forces later recaptured the men, "who said they belonged to al-Qaeda," the paper said.
In early March, Yemeni authorities arrested several men in Aden implicated in the attack on the USS Coledestroyer in October 2000 and accused of being al-Qaeda members.
The suicide attack on the US destroyer at the port of Aden killed 17 sailors and wounded 38.
AFP