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Yemen tries three Shiites for spying for Iran
Three Yemeni Shiites went on trial on Saturday on charges of spying for Iran, a judicial source said. Abdul Karim Lalji, 33, Hani Deen Mohammad, 31, and Iskandar Abdo, 57, were arrested in the southern city of Aden for "illegal contact," the prosecutor told the court.The men handed over "information, documents and photos relating to military secrets and the country's political, security and economic situation, to the detriment of Yemen," according to the charge sheet. The accused, who were arrested a couple of months ago, denied the charges. The court, which specializes in handling terrorism cases, set the next hearing for October 18. In February, the same court sentenced to death a Saudi who had been stripped of his citizenship and a Yemeni army officer, on charges of spying for Egypt. Hamad al-Dhahouk, a former Saudi soldier of Yemeni origin, and Abdul Aziz al-Hatbani, were accused of falsely informing the Egyptian embassy in Sanaa that Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, with the knowledge of the Yemeni government, were financing a terror cell in Yemen for attacks on tourists in Egypt. Sunni Muslims make up the majority of Yemen's 19 million populations. Unlike some other Arab countries, Yemen, located at the southern west tip of the Arabian Peninsula, has diplomatic relations with non-Arab Iran, where Shiites are the majority. Government officials and public figures across the Arab world have recently voiced concerns about what they call Iran's increased influence in the region. Posted by: Fred 2008-10-12 |
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