(http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/MSNBC/Components/Photo/_new/121231-yemen-amb-4a.photoblog600.jpg)Yahya Arhab / EPA, fileThe Yemen branch of al-Qaida has put out a bounty on U.S. Ambassador Gerald Feierstein, shown earlier this month at a military conference in Sanaa.By Rania El Gamal, ReutersThe Yemen-based branch of al-Qaida has offered a bounty for anyone who kills the U.S. ambassador to Yemen or an American soldier in the impoverished Arab state, a group that monitors Islamist websites said.
Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) said it was offering 3 kilograms (more than 105 ounces) of gold for the killing of Ambassador Gerald Feierstein, the U.S. ambassador based in Sanaa, the U.S.-based SITE Intelligence Group said, citing an audio released by militants.
AQAP also offered to pay 5 million rials ($23,350) to anyone who kills any American soldier in Yemen, it said.
Citing the audio, SITE said the offer was put out as being valid for six months and was made "to encourage our Muslim Ummah (nation), and to expand the circle of the jihad (holy war) by the masses."
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