Aden (Yemen), June 17 (IANS): The Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) executed two Saudis and a Yemeni accused of spying for the US in Yemen's Hadramout province on Wednesday, a tribal leader told Xinhua news agency.

"The Al Qaeda executed three of its members who were accused of helping the United States to kill some high-ranking commanders of the terrorist group by drones in Hadramout during the past few days," the tribal chief said on condition of anonymity.

Residents in Hadramout province confirmed it to Xinhua by phone, saying "Al Qaeda gunmen shot three alleged spies in the coastal city of Mukalla, Hadramout's provincial capital, and then hanged their bodies on a bridge in the city".

The AQAP confirmed in a statement posted on some Islamic websites on Tuesday that its top leader Nasir al-Wuhayshi -- a former aide to Osama Bin Laden -- was killed along with several Al Qaida members in Mukalla city.

Qasim Raimi, AQAP's military commander and mastermind of major operations against the US and its embassy in Yemen's capital Sanaa, was named as new leader.

Yemeni political observers said "the death of AQAP's leader is unlikely to significantly weaken the group, but it may, however, help the Islamic State expand in the war-torn Yemen".

Yemen, an impoverished Arab country, has been gripped by one of the most active regional Al Qaeda insurgencies in the Middle East.

AQAP, which emerged in January 2009 and is also known locally as Ansar al-Sharia, had claimed responsibility for a number of attacks on Yemen's army and government institutions.