Aden, April 17 (Reuters): The capture of much of eastern Yemen's oil-producing province by a newly formed group of armed tribesmen and Sunni Muslim clerics has alarmed local officials, who say they fear the situation will be exploited by al Qaida to expand.

The Arabian peninsula's poorest country is now divided between a Saudi-backed exiled government and Iran-backed Shia fighters who control the capital.

The country is also home to one of the most lethal branches of al Qaida, sheltering in tribal regions and targeted for years by US drone strikes.

In recent days, troops appear to have abandoned much of the eastern province of Hadramawt, leaving it under the control of a new group calling itself the Council of Sunni Scholars. The Council's armed tribesmen took charge of an airport and an oil facility in the province's seaside capital Mukalla on Thursday.

"The Council has designated local youth from the area to set up checkpoints near the area of the oil fields and export terminal and near the Al-Rayyan airport," said a local official. "The security situation there and in Mukalla is now under control and calm."

Local politicians say the Council, now effectively the de facto ruling authority in the province, is separate from al Qaida but includes some figures associated with al Qaida in the past.

It negotiated with al Qaida gunmen who appeared on the streets of Mukalla two weeks ago, and since then appears to have reached some kind of accommodation with them, although the nature of that relationship appears ambiguous.

An official in the province told Reuters: "A local committee (of tribesmen) was formed to administer Hadramawt, and this committee benefits al Qaida."

Nasser Ba Quzquz, a Left-wing politician in the provincial capital, said a new feeling of local solidarity should not extend to al Qaida.

"Yes, these people are sons of Hadramawt, but they belong to a terrorist organisation. They kill people from Hadramawt, they rob banks and sow terror and fear."

Residents of Mukalla and other towns say al Qaida fighters have become brazen in recent weeks, openly recruiting at rallies. During one gathering, a singer of jihadi songs named top political and security officers on a hit list.