(Recasts with defence ministry Web site report)

By Mohamed Sudam

SANAA, July 5 (Reuters) - Yemeni security forces have killed an Egyptian who helped mastermind a car bomb suicide attack three days ago which killed nine people, a defence ministry Web site said on Thursday.

The Egyptian was killed during a clash in the capital Sanaa overnight, it said, following Monday's bombing at the Queen of Sheba Temple in Marib province which killed seven Spanish tourists and two Yemenis.

President Ali Abdullah Saleh and other senior officials have said al Qaeda was behind the bombing.

"The killed terrorist is called Ahmad Basyouni Dwedar," the ministry Web site, www.26sep.net, quoted a source at the supreme security committee as saying.

"Investigations affirm that the aforementioned person is one of the leading terrorist elements who took part in planning the terrorist operation," the Web site said.

Six security personnel were wounded in a shootout with Dwedar, the security committee source said, adding that authorities found forged passports and identification documents in his apartment.

A government official told Reuters the Egyptian had lived in Yemen for several years and was married to a Yemeni woman.

Security forces were also trying to track down other suspected militants believed to be involved in the attack, the official said, without giving further details.

ARRESTS

Authorities have arrested dozens of people with suspected links to al Qaeda after the attack near Marib about 150 km (95 miles) east of the capital.

Saleh, whose country joined the U.S.-led war on terrorism after al Qaeda's Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on U.S. cities, offered a $75,500 reward for information leading to the capture of militants behind the attack.

Spanish investigators arrived in Yemen on Wednesday to take part in the investigation.

Security sources have said al Qaeda issued a statement last week demanding the release of some of its members jailed in Yemen -- which has been battling Islamist militants for years -- and threatening to take unspecified action.

Yemen, the ancestral home of al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, is viewed in the West as a haven for Islamist militants. It has seen several spectacular bombings.

One of the poorest countries outside Africa, Yemen has been trying to encourage tourists put off by kidnappings and bomb attacks and boost foreign investment as its oil dwindles.

Yemen foiled two suicide attacks on oil and gas installations in 2006, days after al Qaeda urged Muslims to target Western interests. Al Qaeda's wing in Yemen claimed responsibility for the foiled attacks and vowed more strikes.

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