Hostages moved before raid

AL-QAEDA militants holding an American journalist in Yemen moved him and two other foreign hostages just days before a raid to free him, a Yemeni defence ministry website said. The journalist as well as a British national and a South African are among several hostages held by al-Qaeda in the violence-wracked country. On Tuesday, Yemeni special forces said to have been backed by US commandos, raided an al-Qaeda hideout in Hajr As-Saghir in the southeastern province of Hadramawt to free the captives. Eight hostages – six Yemenis, a Saudi and an Ethiopian – were freed in the operation in which seven gunmen were killed – Sapa-AFP