Yemen President 'Ali 'Abdallah Saleh has called Al-Qaeda "agents of Zionism and colonialism" who were recruited by the Zionists in order to fight the U.S.S.R. in Afghanistan, and then later returned to attack their own countries.

In statements delivered during a visit to summer youth camps on July 11, 2007, he said that Al-Qaeda "understands nothing about Islam" and described the perpetrators of the July 2 attacks against tourists in Ma'rib as "wrongheaded ignorant killers."

Source: Al-Hayat, London, July 12, 2007