Yemen's al-Qaeda leader vows to free prisoners

The leader of the Yemen-based al-Qaeda offshoot vowed in a message posted Monday to free fellow militants from prisons and urged jailed fighters to remain faithful to the terror group's ideology.

The note by Nasser al-Wahishi, a onetime aide to Osama bin Laden, came after last week's closure of 19 US diplomatic missions in the Middle East and Africa. The shutdowns were triggered by the interception of a secret message between al-Qaida chief Ayman al-Zawahri and al-Wahishi about plans for a major attack. (AP)