A Yemeni court in the capital Sanaa has sentenced six men to death for murdering nine Spanish and Belgian tourists over the past two years.
   
The men were found guilty of attacks including one that killed seven Spanish tourists at the Queen of Sheba temple in Marib in 2007 and two Belgian tourists in the Hadramaut region in 2008.

Ten other defendants were sentenced to jail terms ranging from eight to 15 years.

The defendants shouted religious chants of defiance and prayed as each sentence was announced.

Yemen has been battling a wave of al-Qaeda attacks as well as a rebellion by a Shia sect in the north and secessionist sentiment in the south.
   
The men, 11 Yemenis, four Syrians and a Saudi of Yemeni origin, were also accused of mortar attacks on the US and Italian embassies and a foreign housing complex in Sanaa.

Al-Qaeda had claimed responsibility for the attacks as well as an attempted attack on an oil refinery.

Neighbouring Saudi Arabia, the world's largest oil exporter, has said it fears instability in Yemen could allow it to become a launch pad for a revival of a 2003-2006 campaign by al-Qaeda that could destabilise the US-allied ruling Al Saud family.