Terror training for Yemeni forces

Soldiers in Yemen increased their anti-terror training after a radical US-born Sunni Muslim preacher, wanted dead or alive by the United States and Yemen, urged Muslim scholars to promote jihad against US and Israeli interests in the region.

Anwar al-Awlaki also accused Shi'ite power Iran of trying to extend its influence among Arabs in the Gulf region in a 23-minute video recording posted on Islamist websites.

The video appears to have been made before a foiled plot involving explosive packages sent from Yemen on planes bound for the United States.

Awlaki said Muslim clerics should do more to encourage attacks on foreign forces in Muslim countries.

Last week Yemen began a trial of Awlaki in absentia for instigating violence against foreigners and then on Saturday issued an order for his capture dead or alive.

Washington has heaped pressure on Yemeni government to crack down on militants in impoverished, violence-ridden Yemen after the discovery of the plot involving explosive parcels dispatched by air from the country.