Yemen Islamists say to quit town if prisoners freed

SANAA (Reuters) - Yemeni Islamist fighters who seized a small town southeast of the capital Sanaa this week have said they will withdraw if several comrades are released from jail, tribal sources said on Wednesday.

Yemeni tribesmen negotiating with the militants on behalf of the government said Tareq al-Dahab, leader of the group that took over Radda about 170 km (105 miles) southeast of Sanaa, agreed to go if his brother Nabil and several others were freed.

Dahab is related to Anwar al-Awlaki, a U.S. citizen whom Washington accused of a leadership role in the Yemeni branch of al Qaeda, and assassinated in a drone strike last year.

Radda's capture underscored U.S. fears that political turmoil in Yemen over the fate of President Ali Abdullah Saleh will give al Qaeda a foothold near shipping routes through the Red Sea and may spread to world No. 1 oil exporter Saudi Arabia.

Dozens of militants entered Radda on Sunday, expanding militant control outside the southern province of Abyan, where they have captured several towns since an uprising against Saleh began early last year.

Residents of Radda said the streets were empty and shops stayed shut on Wednesday.

Saleh formally handed over power to his deputy late last year, in line with a Gulf-brokered plan to end months of mass protests and bursts of open combat between his forces and those of a rebel general and tribal militias.

Under the deal hammered out by Yemen's wealthier neighbours, Saleh's General People's Congress and opposition parties divided up cabinet posts between them, forming a unity government to steer the country towards presidential elections in February.

But question marks remain over the intentions of the veteran leader, who recently said he would stay in Yemen, reversing a pledge to leave for the United States.

His opponents accuse him of ceding territory to Islamists to bolster his claim that his rule alone keeps al Qaeda from growing strong in Yemen, and ultimately aiming to retain power by sabotaging the transition deal.

Washington, which long backed Saleh as key to its "counter-terrorism" policy, endorses the transition plan. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Tuesday that Saleh was failing to meet his pledges under the deal and that Washington was "focused on the threat posed by al Qaeda in Yemen".

(Reporting by Mohammed Ghobari; Writing by Isabel Coles; Editing by Louise Ireland)