Dubai: Al Qaeda has started reaching out for recruits in Yemen by handing out quiz sheets, with an AK-47 assault rifle as top prize, residents and media said on Thursday.

Militants have been touring the southwestern city of Taiz in the build-up to the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, putting up posters advertising the contest, residents reported.

They encourage people to pick up the sheets from group members. Most of the questions focus on the organisation's interpretation of Islam.

"Name three articles of the (Yemeni) constitution which contradict Islamic Law," read one on a sheet seen by Reuters.