Sana'a, Yemen  - Yemeni police have arrested a leading member of the al-Qaeda terrorist network holding an Asian nationality, a government website reported Thursday.

The Defence Ministry's website, www. 26sep. net, said the detained man "is regarded as one of the dangerous elements of al-Qaeda organisation."

Quoting a "well-informed" police source, the report said the suspect provided "important information" during interrogation.

No more details about the suspect's identity or how he has been captured were available.

The source said security authorities have also arrested several local members of al-Qaeda in the wake of a series of recent attacks in Sana'a and other parts of the country.

Sanaa, Yemen, - Authorities in Yemen arrested 11 suspected members of the al-Qeada terrorist network in the capital Sanaa, security sources said Thursday.

Sana'a, Yemen - At least seven African migrants have drowned after smugglers forced passengers of an illegal boat to jump into the sea after crossing the Gulf of Aden from Somalia to Yemen, Yemeni officials said on Saturday.

The officials said five bodies, including one of a woman, were recovered by local fishermen hours after the incident that took place late on Friday off the coast of Hisn Baleayd in the southern Yemeni province of Abyan.

Sana'a, Yemen  - UN High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres called on the international community Tuesday to intervene to end the conflict in Somalia as a means to end the refugee exodus.

"The international community must realize the far-reaching dangers of an unstable Somalia for the region and beyond, and fully engage with the Somalis in the reach for peace," Guterres told a regional conference on refugees and migration from the Horn of Africa.

Sana'a, Yemen  - The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) on Wednesday appealed to donors to provide around 8 million dollars to back its operations in the conflict-hit northern Yemeni p

Sana'a, Yemen  - A Yemeni minister began on Thursday negotiations with France's state-owned nuclear power producer Electricity de France on plans to build a nuclear power generation plant in the Arab state, the official Saba news agency reported.

The agency said Electricity and Energy Minister Mustafa Bahran held talks with officials from the company on "Yemen's attitudes towards using nuclear power to generate electricity."

The talks touched on "steps for initiating an active cooperation between the two countries in nuclear power generation," Saba said.