Al Qaeda calls for tourist kidnappings in Yemen: Web

DUBAI (Reuters) - An al Qaeda Yemeni wing called in an Internet posting on Wednesday for kidnappings of tourists in the Arab country to press for the release of jailed militants.

"It is a duty that detainees be freed through any rough way such as kidnapping tourists, who are numerous, or through various other ways," an article in the e-magazine of al Qaeda in the South of the Arabian Peninsula read.

The group said it was pained some militants "had turned themselves in voluntarily to the ruling regime to improve their situation", in an apparent reference to a Yemeni-American thought to be a major figure in the bombing of U.S. warship Cole in 2000, who turned himself in to Yemeni authorities in 2007.

Jaber Elbaneh was allowed to walk free after surrendering but a Yemeni court sent him back to jail this year. His release had irked Washington, which had complained to Yemen.

Dozens of al Qaeda militants are serving jail terms in Yemen for attacks on Western and government targets.

Scores of holidaymakers and foreigners working in Yemen have been kidnapped over the past decade by tribesmen demanding better schools, roads and services, or the release of prisoners.

Most hostages have been freed unharmed, but in 2000 a Norwegian diplomat was killed in crossfire and in 1998 four Westerners were killed during a botched army attempt to free them from Islamic militants who had seized 16 tourists.

Yemen, which joined the U.S.-led war on terror after the September 11 attacks on U.S. cities, is seen in the West as a haven for Islamist militants.

(Reporting by Inal Ersan; Editing by Stephen Weeks)