Yemen Government

President Ali Abdullah Saleh fired his prime minister and asked Deputy Prime Minister Abdul-Kadir Ba Jammal to form a new government, the sixth since 1990, a presidential statement said. The statement gave no reason for the firing of Abdul-Karim Iryani, who had served nearly three years. But he was seen as unable to accomplish many of Yemen's economic reforms, launched in 1995 with help from the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.

The suspected suicide bombing of an American destroyer anchored in the Port of Aden has focused world attention on this rugged land where each man carries an average of three weapons and Muslim extremists have found a welcome home. Yemen has figured prominently on the world's roster of terrorist nations for years. The 1998 bombings of the U.S. embassies in Tanzania and Kenya were carried out by a group that included a Yemeni man.

The U.S. Navy on Thursday recovered the last four bodies of American sailors from the disabled destroyer Cole, as the retired military commander who had approved the policy of refueling ships in Yemen told a Senate panel that the danger level, while high, was "actually better than we had elsewhere" in the region.

The battered white Toyota bumped slowly down the alley. The driver leaned out the window searching each face for something safe and familiar. He hit the brakes after spotting a family friend, a lean old man with skin like coffee and teeth of gold. The two spoke discreetly before ducking into a stairwell and shouting up the steps. "Who are you?" a voice called down nervously. "It's OK," they said. "We are from the south." "Come," the voice said.

The hostages said they were being led up to a mountain hide-out by their kidnappers when shots first rang out: Yemeni soldiers sent to rescue the 16 Westerners had opened fire. In response, the foreign tourists were forced to stand with their hands in the air to shield the gunmen. When the hostages staggered back, two were shot dead by their captors and the others cowered behind an embankment, two former hostages said Wednesday.