Two Belgian tourists shot dead in Yemen

Source: AFP

SANAA (AFP) — Two female Belgian tourists were among four people killed, and four more Belgians were wounded, when suspected Al-Qaeda gunmen opened fire on them in Yemen on Friday, a local official told AFP.

The official, who declined to be named, blamed the local branch of the terror network for the attack, in which the tourists' Yemeni guide and driver were also killed.

The attackers were said to have opened fire on a bus carrying 15 Belgian tourists in the eastern province of Hadramut's Do'an Valley, before they fled the scene in a car.

The group was travelling to the nearby city of Shibam, which lies around 450 kilometres (280 miles) east of the Yemeni capital, Sanaa.

The 16th century city is a UNESCO World Heritage site and has been dubbed the "Manhattan of the Desert" for its distinctive, tower-like structures.

Read more: http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5ghZL54uh_lAXXNj_izGHAngY6dVg

It's not like going to see the pyramids or Petra.

I'd love to go to Egypt or back to Morocco but I don't have the nerve.

I was in Morocco in '90 traveling with another woman friend. We had a terrific time. We did get hassled a couple of times but nothing serious. People seemed curious about us traveling without "our men" but they weren't obnoxious about it.

Mz Pip
:dem:

they've been trying to convince the rest of the world that it's safe to visit. Terrorism hurts the Middle East in so many ways.

I'd like to see the math on that one.