A Yemeni court sentenced six Yemeni Al-Qaeda suspects to two years in jail yesterday for forging travel documents to try to join militants fighting US forces in Iraq and Afghanistan. Five other Yemenis arrested in the same case were acquitted. All 11 men were acquitted of another charge of setting up an armed group to carry out attacks in Yemen. "They were among a group of 14 Al-Qaeda suspects detained for alleged links to militant attacks in Yemen. Three were released due to lack of evidence before the trial began in February. Lawyers said six of the defendants had been handed over to Yemen by Saudi Arabia. The men, aged between 24 and 35, had originally been charged with forming an armed group to carry out attacks in Yemen and abroad. Other charges included forging documents, possession of weapons and explosives. The court's presiding judge, Najeeb Al-Qadri, said there was no evidence to substantiate that the 11 men had plotted attacks either in Yemen or in other countries. Al-Qadri cleared five defendants of all charges and handed down two-year prison terms to each of the remaining six. Defense lawyers have argued that the case was based on "weak charges".
"The prosecution failed to provide evidence that our clients were involved in planning or carrying out any terror acts in Yemen or any other country," defense lawyer Muhammad Al-Ezzani told the court. "The whole case is based on weak and fabricated charges," he said. Prosecutors told the court the defendants had tried to join militants battling US forces in Iraq and Afghanistan. All the men pleaded not guilty, saying that they were even not acquainted with each other. The 11 suspects were among a group of 26 men detained for Al-Qaeda links. Fifteen of those suspects were set free due to lack of evidence. Mohammad Al-Kazmi, Ahmad Al-Qardaei, Saddam Hussein Al-Hussami, Abdullah Al-Wadei, Faris Al-Barraq and Shafik Zaid were sentenced to two years in prison each. Faris Al-Nahdi, Abdul Raouf Nassib, Mansur Al-Bijani, Ibrahim Al-Maqri and Mohammad Hatem were acquitted.
The court later began the trial of another batch of suspects charged with plotting to attack Western targets in Sanaa. The prosecution has accused the eight, including a Swiss citizen of Iraqi origin, of plotting to attack the British and Italian embassies and the French cultural center in the Yemeni capital. The eight are Iraqi-born Swiss national Anwar Al-Jilani, 20; Khaled Al-Batati, 23; Salah Othman, 33; Omran Al-Faqih, 31; Abdurrahman Basira, 25, and Majed Mizan, 21, both former residents of Saudi Arabia; and Mohammad Abdulwahab Bakri, a 24-year-old Syrian, and his brother Ahmad, 22. Their trial was adjourned until March 28.