A Yemen-based al-Qaida wing denied attacking a polling center in Yemen's southern city of Aden, in a brief statement issued hours after a man was killed in the polling attack Tuesday.

"Ansar al-Sharia (partisans of Islamic law) denies attacking the polling center in the neighborhood of Crater earlier today ( Tuesday), and we condemn such bombing attacks," according to the statement received by Xinhua.

The al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), known locally as Ansar al-Sharia, has a large presence in Yemen's southern and eastern restive provinces including Aden, apparently taking advantage of the year-long protests against outgoing President Ali Abdullah Saleh that has weakened the central government's control.

The attack raised tension ahead of the presidential election scheduled next week, triggering a quick deployment of more security forces around the election committee's headquarters in Crater, a local security official told Xinhua.

The state-run Saba news agency said the failed attack was carried out by 28-year-old Amir al-Yahri from Aden, who was killed when the bomb exploded as he was trying to plant it near the polling center.

According to the security official, al-Yahri was a member of the separatist Southern Movement, which stages almost daily protests calling for boycotting the polls.

The Yemeni government has geared up for the election scheduled on Feb. 21, which is part of a UN-backed power transfer deal to ease Saleh out of office and steer the impoverished Arab state back from a possible civil war.

Under the deal, which was signed by Saleh and the opposition in November 2011, the rival political parties nominated Vice President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi as the sole presidential candidate for the early election.

Hadi comes from the southern province of Abyan, which is located to the east of Aden. Most of Abyan's cities, including its provincial capital city of Zinjibar, are now under the control of AQAP militants, as the government forces have been battling the terrorist group in an attempt to drive them out.

Saleh, who agreed to step down in return for immunity from prosecution, is currently in the United States for medical treatment. He left Yemen last month and promised to return home to attend Hadi's inauguration.

Despite the planned political settlement brokered by neighboring oil-rich Gulf countries with the aim of ending the months-old unrest, the presidential election sparked daily protests in the southern provinces, where thousands of pro- separatist activists reject the deal and call for boycotting the polls.

The protesters belong to the separatist Southern Movement, which have their bases in several southern provinces, including Aden, and demand an end to the north-south union deal signed in 1990, complaining that the northerners have seized the south's oil resources and discriminated against the southerners.

At least four anti-election protesters were killed last week when their rallies turned into clashes with security forces in the southern provinces of Aden, al-Dhalee and Hadramout.

Last week, Hadi launched his advertising presidential campaign, pledging to launch a national dialogue based on openness, equity and mutual respect and involving all the Yemeni political forces, including the southern separatist group, after he takes office.