(CNN) -- A top Yemeni al Qaeda suspect was sentenced to death Monday, journalists present at the sentencing told CNN.
Saleh al-Shawsh was one of the top three most wanted members of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), as the terror group calls itself in Yemen, the journalists said.
Yemen has become a main battleground for al Qaeda, with the government carrying out air strikes and a ground campaign against the group this weekend.
A top U.S. counterterror official recently visited Yemen to show Washington's support for the campaign against al Qaeda.
President Barack Obama's counterterrorism adviser, John Brennan, met the president of Yemen a month ago to discuss al Qaeda and U.S. support for Yemen, the U.S. Embassy announced at the time.
Brennan delivered a letter to Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh affirming U.S. support for Yemen, the embassy said.
Al Qaeda activity in Yemen grabbed the attention of the West with the Christmas Day attempted bombing of a Northwest Airlines trans-Atlantic flight as it approached Detroit, Michigan.
The suspect, Umar Farouk AbdulMutallab, who has pleaded not guilty to six federal terrorism charges, was reportedly trained and armed in Yemen.
The Obama administration is considering adding armed CIA drones to help fight the increasing threat of al Qaeda in Yemen, a U.S. official said in August.
A counterterrorism official told CNN that the administration recognizes that "not enough is being done in Yemen" to meet the growing challenge posed by AQAP.
CNN
