(Adds background) SANAA, Jan 21 (Reuters) - Yemen said on Monday it had identified the suspected killers of two Belgian tourists and their Yemeni drivers among dozens of al Qaeda suspects rounded up since last week's attack. "Among those who were arrested in the past few days, four are believed to be the attackers," a security official told Reuters. He declined to give further details. Friday's attack came less than a week after al Qaeda's wing in Yemen vowed to carry out unspecified operations to win the release of jailed Islamic militants. Yemeni officials have not ruled out al Qaeda involvement in the attack though no one has claimed responsibility for the shooting near Shibam, famous for its old towers, in the Hadramout region. The arrests were made in Hadramout and the nearby Maarib and Shebwa regions. The bodies of the two Belgian women were sent home late on Saturday for burial. In July, a suicide bombing killed seven Spanish tourists and wounded six at the Queen of Sheba Temple. Yemen, which joined the U.S.-led war on terrorism after al Qaeda's Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on U.S. cities, has often been the site of militant attacks and kidnappings by disgruntled tribesmen. The ancestral home of al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, Yemen is viewed in the West as a haven for Islamic militants. In an Internet posting last week, al Qaeda's wing in Yemen vowed to free its prisoners from the country's jails and retaliate for the killings of militants by the government. Officials said last year that July's attack had been preceded by an al Qaeda demand for the release of jailed comrades. Dozens of al Qaeda militants are serving jail terms in the country on the Arabian Peninsula for involvement in bombings of Western targets and clashes with the authorities. One of the poorest countries outside Africa, Yemen has been trying to attract tourists put off by kidnappings and bomb attacks and boost foreign investment as its oil dwindles. Yemeni Tourism Minister Nabil Hasan al-Faqih said the attack had not prompted any cancellations by tour groups, although tour operators said it was bad for business. (Reporting by Mohammed Sudam, writing by Firouz Sedarat; Editing by Charles Dick)
Yemeni fishermen prepare the body of a female African would-be migrant for burial in a makeshift grave at the beach of Mayfaa Hijr in southeastern Yemen December 1, 2007. About 80 ...
