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| Arabia |
| Militants Threaten Prosecutor During Yemen Terror Trial |
| 2004-07-10 |
| Militants allegedly involved in an attack on a French oil tanker threatened the prosecutor during a court hearing yesterday that they would cut off his legs. One of the 14 defendants in court, Qassim Al-Rimi, told prosecutor Saeed Al-Aqel that he âwill pay dearlyâ if he didnât stop his âstubbornness,â and threatened to âcut offâ his legs. On Tuesday, Al-Aqelâs house was targeted with a grenade but there were no casualties. Security officials said initial investigations showed that a brother of one of the defendants was behind the attack. âIâm not a man who is afraid of threats and I will continue my job to serve the nation until justice is done,â Al-Aqel told Al-Rimi. Among those on trial is Fawaz Al-Rabeiee, a Yemeni sought by the FBI. A 15th suspect was being tried in absentia. They are accused of planning and carrying out the Oct. 6, 2002, suicide attack on the Limburg tanker that killed one Bulgarian crew member and caused 90,000 barrels of oil to spill into the Gulf of Aden. The group was also charged with carrying out the November 2002 attack on a helicopter carrying employees of the US oil company Hunt Corp. after take-off from Sanaa International Airport and the killing of a Yemeni security officer. Some of the defendants are believed to be linked to Al-Qaeda terror network. The defense called for the charges to be thrown out, citing lack of evidence and violation of their clientsâ rights, including barring lawyers from attending questioning sessions. The prosecution alleged that during the opening session in May, some of the defendants acknowledged discussing a possible attack on Hull in retaliation for the CIA-operated assassination of Sinan Al-Harethi, Al-Qaedaâs chief agent in Yemen, in November 2002. âA partial confession is a full confession,â said Al-Aqel. The court adjourned until July 17. |
| Posted by:TS(vice girl) |
| #1 Let's see, wasn't it Yemen that recently flushed out dozens of captured terrorist suspects back into both their military and society? I guess they still have some major lessons to learn. All their conciltory gestures are now rewarded with more threats of violence. This is like cutting off a healthy limb in order to improve blood flow to a tumor. |
| Posted by: Zenster 2004-07-10 10:32:17 PM |