Yemeni security forces have detained five people, including a woman, suspected of belonging to al Qaeda and plotting attacks on embassies and Western targets in the country, security sources said Wednesday. "At the beginning of this week, we have succeeded to arrest five (suspected al Qaeda members) who were trying to plant explosive materials near an installation belonging to a Western country," one source told AFP.

The five suspects, who "were planning attacks on embassies and Western targets," included a woman, the source said.

"The security services had received last week threats from unknown terrorists who threatened to attack Western embassies and interests in Sanaa if the authorities would execute those accused in the cases of the French tanker Limburg and the USS Cole destroyer," the source said.

Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2005