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Yemeni militant's supporters vow revenge

Yemen authorities said Mehdar - also known as Abu al-Hassan, the leader of the Aden-Abyan Islamic Army - was executed on Sunday for kidnapping and killing Western hostages last year.

He was executed by firing squad one day after Yemen's supreme court upheld his death sentence.

Abu Hamza al-Masri, who lives in London and is wanted by Yemen for alleged links to Islamic militants, told Monday's London-based Arabic-language al-Hayat newspaper that Mehdar's "blood will not go to waste. We ask God to help us avenge him an Islamic revenge".

Asked if he was threatening violent attacks, he said: "they (in Yemen) can interpret my words the way they want.

He told the Qatari al-Jazeera satellite television on Monday: "We expected the execution but we did not expect it to be carried out so quickly".

'They lit the spark'

Asked if militants would carry out earlier threats to avenge Mehdar's execution, he said: "We (stick) to our vows and promises and the war between us and them will go on unabated".

According to the al-Hayat newspaper, a man claiming to be the temporary replacement head of the Aden-Abyan Islamic Army had placed the blame on the Yemeni Interior Ministry.

Abu Bassam is quoted as telling the paper in a telephone call that the execution "will spark strife in Yemen. They lit the spark and will bear the consequences".

Co-defendants' sentences commuted

Mehdar was convicted in May for the kidnapping of 16 Western tourists last December and killing four of them.

The three Britons and one Australian died during a rescue attempt by Yemeni security forces.

Survivors said that the gun battle was started by the Yemeni troops, not their kidnappers.

But Yemeni Prime Minister Abdel Karim al-Iryani insisted the assault came after the kidnappers began killing. He approved Mehdar's execution.

Two other men condemned to death in May with Mehdar have had their sentences commuted.

One, Yemeni Abdullah Saleh al-Juraidi has been jailed for 20 years, while a Tunisian man was given an eight-year sentence.

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Internet Links

UK Foreign Office - Yemen
ArabNet - Yemen
Yemen Online

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