SANAA • A 21-year-old Yemeni man carried out the suicide bombing that killed eight Spanish tourists and two Yemenis last month, a Yemeni security source said yesterday.

Abdou Mohammad Rahiqa was identified through DNA tests, said the source, adding authorities were looking for nine people suspected of involvement in the attack, including a Saudi citizen.

Yemen has said its security forces killed an Egyptian who helped mastermind the suicide car bomb attack at the Queen of Sheba Temple in Marib, about 150 km (95 miles) east of the capital Sanaa.

Yemen, which joined the US-led war on terrorism after Al Qaeda's September 11, 2001 attacks on US cities, has offered a $75,500 reward for information leading to the capture of those behind the attack.

Al Qaeda issued a statement days before the attack demanding the release of some of its members jailed in Yemen and threatening unspecified action.

Yemen, the ancestral home of Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, is viewed in the West as a haven for militants. It has seen several major bombings.

One of the poorest countries outside Africa, Yemen has been trying to encourage tourists put off by kidnappings and bombings and boost foreign investment as its oil resources dwindle.

Meanwhile, security forces fired tear gas and water cannons at former soldiers protesting on Thursday in the port city Aden, demanding to be allowed back in the military and one person was reported killed, eyewitnesses and reporters at the scene said.

The street demonstrations underlined increasing tensions between southern and northern Yemen 13 years after a civil war. The protesters were largely members of the army of south Yemen who were ousted after being defeated by northern forces.

The protests began overnight with demonstrators burning tires in the streets of Aden. Security forces clamped down with roadblocks at entrances into the city to prevent more protesters from coming in from other areas.

The violence erupted on Thursday morning as some 1,500 protesters marched toward the central square of downtown Aden. Riot police fired tear gas, rubber bullets and water cannons to disperse them. Hundreds of demonstrators also clashed with police in other neighborhoods of the city.

At least three people were wounded, one of whom died later in Aden's Gomhouria Hospital, according to a doctor in the hospital, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter.