Tuesday 5 October 2010

12 Yemenis to stand trial for Al Qaeda ties

Source : Yemen’s official news agency, Saba
05/10/2010
HADRAMOUT-Yemen- The Hadramout-based Specialized Penal Prosecution has referred the files of 12 al-Qaeda suspects to a court in Hadramout province, eastern Yemen.

A judicial source said that all the defendants were Yemenis and were arrested at different times over a period of two years, adding that they were planning to commit criminal acts and blow up public and private facilities.

The source pointed out that they had obtained visas to Afghanistan, Somalia and Iraq to join the so-called al-Qaeda in those countries.

He further added that they had harboured Saudi, Egyptian, Jordanian and Sudanese wanted elements from al-Qaeda, and that during their arrest they were found in possession of weapons, explosives and bazookas.

Meanwhile, the state security court in the capital Sana’a has convened its second session for the trial of four al-Qaeda suspects, including a German and an Iraqi.

At the beginning of the session, Badr Ahmad Rashid al-Husayni, the first defendant, was confronted with his confessions in the prosecution's records of evidence-collection and interrogations.

He confessed to his relationship with the so-called Mohammed al-Nashiri, member of al-Qaeda Organization.

"I met him in prison and contacted him after we were released. He is the one who explained to me about jihad in Yemen. Also in prison I met Othman al-Salawi, who executed the suicide attack against the British ambassador in Sana’a", al-Husayni said in his confessions.

"I was in Shawqi and Al-Nashiri's cell, and was influenced by Mohammad Ha'il, who was killed in Iraq. I also met Sufyan al-Omari and I know the names of 55 al-Qaeda members in Yemen".

When the judge asked al-Husayni to verify the truth of what he was accused of, he admitted it was true, adding that he was tried in the same courthouse in a previous case.

The lawyer for the second, third, and fourth defendants claimed that the court had no jurisdiction over them, saying that when the defendants were arrested, their ages were not more than 16 years.

He requested that the defendants be referred to a juvenile court.

The court ordered postponement until 17 October.

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