Yemen Soldiers Kill Man at Funeral in South

Soldiers in Yemen shot dead one man and wounded six others on Friday at the funeral of an al-Qaida suspect who died in custody a year ago in the south of the country, medics and witnesses said.

Jeyab al-Saadi was killed and six others were wounded, medics at Naqib hospital in the main southern city of Aden and witnesses told Agence France Presse.

The military used machine-gun fire to disperse thousands at the funeral of Ahmed Darwish, who was arrested after an attack on intelligence headquarters in Aden in June 2010 in which 11 people, including seven military personnel, were killed.

Al-Qaida was suspected of masterminding the attack.

Darwish died in custody one day after being detained. His body had been stored at a government hospital in the port city until Friday.

After the shooting, the funeral procession, in which "Youth Revolution" protesters calling for the regime's overthrow and separatist Southern Movement also took part, proceeded towards the cemetery, witnesses said.

In May, dozens of people staged a demonstration demanding the speedy trial of prison guards suspected of involvement in Darwish's death. A protester was killed by the army at that demonstration also.

Darwish's brother said Ahmed's body was released from the hospital after a court sentenced four security officials to death for their involvement in killing him and former intelligence chief Abdullah Qeran was detained.

Friday's shooting comes as battles have raged between the army and alleged al-Qaida militants in several parts of the country that is also seeing a massive uprising against the 33-year-old rule of President Ali Abdullah Saleh.

At least 100 soldiers have been killed since violence erupted in the southern city of Zinjibar more than three weeks ago, and 260 more have been wounded, according to a military official.

The fighting in Zinjibar has sparked fears of a spillover of alleged al-Qaida militants into the strategic port city of Aden, prompting a heavy security deployment in the already tightly patrolled city.

Yemen is the ancestral homeland of late al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden.

The jihadists' local affiliate, al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, is blamed for anti-U.S. plots including trying to blow up a U.S.-bound airliner on Christmas Day 2009.