Yemen says it will not hunt down a radical U.S.-born cleric who has reportedly been added to the CIA's list of targets to be killed or captured.
Yemen’s foreign minister says the U.S. has not handed over evidence to support allegations Anwar al-Awlaki is recruiting for al-Qaida’s offshoot in the impoverished country on the southern edge of the Arabian Peninsula.
The Obama administration has authorized his killing because it believes he has shifted from encouraging attacks on the U.S. to participating in them, The New York Times reported this week.
Foreign Minister Abu Bakr al-Qirbi said Saturday that al-Awlaki is not a terrorist. Security officials believe he is hiding in an area of Yemen that has become a refuge for Islamic militants.
A powerful tribe in Yemen threatened violence on Saturday against anyone trying to harm Awaliq.
The heavily armed Awaliq tribe, active in the Abyan and Shabwa regions that are key Qaeda strongholds in Yemen, warned against any attempt against Awlaqi.
In an official statement published after a meeting of tribal leaders, the tribe said it would "not remain with arms crossed if a hair of Anwar al-Awlaqi is touched, or if anyone plots or spies against him."
"Whoever risks denouncing our son (Awlaqi) will be the target of Al-Awaliq weapons," the statement said, and warned "anyone against cooperating with the Americans" in the capture or killing of the cleric.
State television said the suspected motive of the blast was to free a number of prisoners and that at least five people were wounded. They received medical care but were later allowed to leave hospital.
Ilam, which is also the name of the province, is a mountainous region bordering Iraq, and home to tribal people as well as ethnic Kurds.
Bomb attacks are relatively rare in the Islamic Republic, which also borders Afghanistan and Pakistan.