Al-Qaida claims unfounded, Yemen says

SANAA, Yemen, July 20 (UPI) -- Yemeni officials downplayed claims that al-Qaida militants were fleeing Iraq and Afghanistan to establish operations in the Arabian peninsula.

Abu Bakr al-Qirbi, the foreign minister for Yemen, told pan-Arab daily Asharq al-Awsat there was no basis to reports that al-Qaida was transferring its fighters from Iraq and Afghanistan to his country.

He pointed to continued counter-terrorism efforts by Yemeni authorities as a sign the al-Qaida claims were nothing more than propaganda, the state-run Saba news agency reports.

Yemeni courts sentenced six members of al-Qaida to death and handed out lengthy prison terms to 10 other suspects for their involvement in bombings at oil facilities and the U.S. and Italian embassies.

Qirbi told the newspaper that members of al-Qaida were trying to join up with the al-Houthi militant group, saying the "government will have no choice to take measures against them."

The Shiite Houthi organization is blamed for a series of kidnappings in the north of Yemen, though it denies the allegations.

Yemeni forces warned last week of a possible al-Qaida attack on the U.S. Embassy in Sanaa.

More than 16 people were killed and several others were injured when two cars carrying suicide bombers and armed militants attacked the U.S. Embassy in Sanaa in 2008.