Report: Yemen Expected Al-Qaida Attack

Intelligence agencies in Yemen expected the al-Qaida attack that killed nine people on Monday, but not at a temple, the country’s president said Tuesday.

At a Sanaa news conference, Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh said security forces had boosted security measures around oil facilities and government institutions but the Balqis temple was not taken into account as a potential target, Alalam Satellite TV reported.

A suicide bomber rammed his car into a convoy of tourists, killing seven Spanish tourists and two local drivers at the 3,000-year-old temple 100 miles east of Sanaa.

Saleh also announced a reward of $82,000 for anyone who came forward with information leading to the capture or killing of anyone deemed to be a terrorist, the report said.

The bombing was the worst attack against Westerners in Yemen since al-Qaida extremists struck the USS Cole off the southern port of Aden in 2000 and killed 17 U.S. sailors.