A Yemeni court yesterday sentenced three Al-Qaeda suspects to seven years in prison and a fourth to two years in jail for plotting attacks against government installations and Westerners in the capital Sanaa.Judge Muhssien Alwan said the court found the four men guilty of forming an armed group and plotting attacks on hotels frequented by Westerners in Sanaa. He said the plot also included targeting state installations in the city.
Prosecutors said the men had planned attacks to avenge the killing of leading Al-Qaeda member in Yemen, Hamza Al-Quaiti, who was shot dead in a police raid in Hadhramout last August.
Essam Muhammed Ghailan 24, Munir Hamoud Al-Bawni, 23, Muhammed Muhssien Al-Saadi, 24, received a seven-year jail term each. Al-Saadi's younger brother Osama, 15, was sentenced to two years in prison for resisting police arrest. The defendants told the court they would not appeal the verdict, saying the trial was illegal.
"This trial is illegal, this verdict is unjust," Muhammed Al-Saadi shouted from behind the screen bars after the court verdict was pronounced. The ruling said the four suspects set up the terror cell and collected weapons and ammunition to be used in attacks.