Aden (ANTARA News/AFP) - An Al-Qaeda-linked group claimed responsibility Sunday for shooting dead an American teacher in Yemen, saying he was a Christian missionary, a statement by the jihadist group said.

Fighters of Ansar al-Sharia, or Partisans of Sharia, "killed an American Christian missionary" in the city of Taez, said a statement circulated by a mobile phone message and confirmed by a source close to the group.

"The attack is in response to a Western campaign to preach for Christianity among Muslims," it said.

The slain man, whose name has not yet been released, was an American project leader who had worked at the International Training and Development Centre NGO in Taez for two years, sources at the centre said.

The US embassy in Sanaa said it did not have any information about the killing and that it was investigating the report. (*)

Editor: Kunto Wibisono
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