Yemen jails six for terror plots

The Yemeni special court yesterday sentenced six men to jail terms of two to four years for plotting terrorist acts in Yemen and abroad, including the blowing up of the British and Italian missions and the French Cultural Centre in Sanaa.

The court acquitted two others in the eight-member group.

Anwar Al Jalani, 20, a Swiss of Iraqi origin, was sentenced to four years from the date of arrest after being convicted of forging identification cards and forming an armed gang for planning and striking Western interests in Yemen and abroad.

Khalid Mohammad Al Betati 23, was sentenced to three years and three months. He surrendered after he had shelved his plans to bomb the British embassy in Sanaa with a car bomb.

Abdul Rahman Basurah, 25, and Ahmad Abdul Wahab Khaiti, 22, and Mohammad Abdul Wahab Khaiti, 24, (two Syrian brothers and former Saudi Arabia residents) were sentenced to three years and four months each.

The court, chaired by judge Najeeb Al Qaderi handed down two years in prison to Amran Mohammad Sa'eed Al Faqee, 31, who was convicted of forging identification card for his Egyptian wife.

Majid Maizan 21, and Salah Amar Al Shareef 32, were acquitted of the terror charges.

"Long live justice," cried the two Yemenis who were acquitted as Mohammad Al Azzam, the lawyer of the six convicted men, told Reuters he would appeal the verdict.

"The evidence used to convict the men is not legitimate. This verdict is not fair," he added.

Last March, the group was on trial and was initially accused of having links to Al Qaida and planning to blow up the British and Italian embassies and the French Cultural Centre in Yemen.

They were accused of forging passports and other documents, and possessing arms and explosives.

The defendants, who included five Yemenis, confessed to planning of terror attacks but denied forming an armed group.

The prosecutor said documents found in the Jilani's computer showed the group planned to kill Prime Minister, Defence Minister, Interior Minister, and Political Security chairman, and Secretary-General of the ruling People's General Congress in addition to some state buildings and the local offices of the World Bank.

The prosecutor also said that the group also planned to attack military bases in neighbouring Saudi Arabia as well in some of the other Gulf states and Europe and the United States.

Yemen, the ancestral homeland of Al Qaida leader Osama Bin Laden, has cracked down on militants since the September 11, 2001 attacks on US cities and has cooperated closely with the US-led war on terrorism.

It has captured and sentenced several Al Qaida followers, including those behind the 2000 USS Cole bombing and the 2002 attack on the French supertanker Limburg.

With additional reporting from Reuters