Yemen sentences two Al-Qaeda suspects to death

Source: AFP

07\07\2010

A court in the Yemeni capital on Wednesday sentenced to death two young men suspected of being Al-Qaeda members for a series of lethal attacks.

The men, Mansour Saleh Salem Daleel, 18, and Mubarak Ali Hadi al-Shabwani, 23, who denied the charges, were arrested on December 11 in the Marib province of eastern Yemen.

The pair were accused of "participating in an armed gang which carried out criminal actions against military and security officials and members of the armed forces," according to the list of charges.

Daleel said he will appeal against the verdict, which Mubarak called "unjust, null and void," rejecting the legitimacy of the Sanaa court specially set up to try terrorism cases.

"The defendants used arms to resist men of the public authority who were responsible for ... arresting them in Al-Shabwan in Marib province, killing two soldiers and a civilian and wounding five other soldiers," the prosecutor said.

The two men were likewise accused of killing three officials along with their two companions while they were driving on November 3 in the southern province of Hadramut.

Also, the prosecution said they killed a soldier in a July 2009 attack on an army truck loaded with weapons and ammunition.

Yemen's government has intensified its military campaign against Al-Qaeda as international pressure mounts on Sanaa to clamp down on militants believed to be regrouping in the impoverished country's eastern region.

Al-Qaeda's branch in Yemen -- Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) -- has claimed responsibility for the botched Christmas Day attack on a US airliner. Washington accused the group of training the Nigerian assailant.

On January 26, Yemen sentenced seven suspected Al-Qaeda members to between five and 10 years in jail for plotting to attack foreign interests and tourists.