Eleven Yemenis suspected of belonging to al-Qaida have gone on trial accused of planning to carry out "criminal acts" in Yemen and abroad. Ten of the 11 defendants, all Yemenis and at least six of who were born in Saudi Arabia, were present at the hearing where they were formally charged on Monday The charges also include possession of arms and explosives and forging documents and passports. A public prosecutor claimed the 11 had trained in camps in Afghanistan between 1998 and 2002 and were plotting and raising funds for "criminal acts" inside Yemen and abroad. The prosecutor also charged that the men had planned to travel to Iraq to fight US-led forces and demanded the maximum punishment of between seven and 10 years in prison Some of the accused denied the accusations though a number agreed to forging documents. Aged between 24 and 43, the 10 present were named as Muhammad al-Kazmi, Abd Allah al-Wadai, Mansur al-Bihani, Shafiq Ahmad Umar, Ibrahim al-Mukri, Muhammad Hatim, Saddam Ismail, Faris al-Wadai, Abd al-Rauf Nasib and Ahmad Muhammed al-Kardai. The eleventh defendant, Faris al-Nahdi did not attend the hearing, which was adjourned until 21 February. Six of the men were arrested in Saudi, two in Syria and the rest in Yemen.
Yemen, which has cracked down on suspected al-Qaida members at the behest of the US, has already tried and convicted two groups over the 2000 bombing of the US navy destroyer Cole in Aden which killed 17 American sailors and the bombing of a French tanker, the Limburg, two years later. On 5 February, the appeals court in Sanaa upheld the death sentence against a Yemeni and sentenced to death another who had been jailed over the bombing of the Limburg and other attacks. The appeals court will deliver the verdict in the Cole case on 26 February.