Al-Qaeda assassinates intelligence official in southern Yemen

Sanaa, Feb 12 (ANI): A Yemeni senior intelligence official was shot dead by al-Qaeda-linked gunmen in Yemen's al-Bayda province.

"Eyeda bin Faraj, the colonel of al-Bayda's provincial intelligence service, was shot dead Saturday night in al-Bayda's central city by al-Qaeda militants led by Tariq al-Dhahab," Xinhua quoted an intelligence official, as saying, on the condition of anonymity.

Yemeni intelligence personnel have been the key target of the al- Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) in the past several months, which has vowed to "eliminate all high-ranking personnel of the Yemeni government intelligence agencies."

Al-Qaeda leader Tariq al-Dhahab had earlier made a deal with the Yemeni transitional government, under which the government released 15 al-Qaida prisoners in return for the withdraw of around 1,000 al-Qaeda militants from al-Bayda's town of Radda.

However, Yemeni Vice President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi told foreign ambassadors in Sanaa that his government " will not negotiate or seek compromise with terrorist groups."(ANI)