Hundreds of Yemeni rebels slain in clashes - Saudi

Hundreds of Yemeni Shi'ite rebels who infiltrated into Saudi Arabia have been slain by security forces, a Saudi defence official said on Tuesday. Saudi state media said four Saudi soldiers were killed in the border clashes. Separately, Yemeni forces killed 19 rebels in sweeps to rid the old quarter of the north Yemeni town Saada of Shi'ite rebel hideouts, Yemen's Interior Ministry said. About 25 rebels were seized. Yemen, the Arab world's poorest nation, came to the foreground of U.S.-led efforts to battle militancy after a Yemen-based wing of al Qaeda said it was behind a failed December 25 plot to bomb a U.S.-bound airliner.