Yemen, Al Qaeda | featured news

Yemeni security forces stormed an al-Qaida hide-out Wednesday in a principle militant stronghold in the country's west, setting off clashes, officials said, as a security chief vowed to fight the group's powerful local branch until it was eliminated.

An attempted Christmas Day bombing of a U.S. passenger jet has put a spotlight on what American spy agencies see as an emerging battlefield in Yemen against a rapidly growing hub for al Qaeda.

Yemen has arrested a man described as al Qaeda's top financier in Yemen and Saudi Arabia, a security source told Reuters on Sunday, and seven Germans, a Briton and a South Korean have been kidnapped in north Yemen.

An al-Qaida leader urged divided Yemenis to unite and fight the country's government, and called its president an "infidel agent" in an audio message released Thursday.