YEMEN: Yemeni court charges 35 suspected al-Qaeda members in foiled suicide attacks on oil and gas installations

A Yemeni court charged 35 suspected members of an al Qaeda-linked cell on Sunday with taking part in foiled suicide attacks on oil and gas installations in the Arab country last year. Prosecutors accused the men, six of whom were charged in absentia, of "forming an armed gang aimed at carrying out sabotage attacks" and involvement in the attacks on the installations in the Marib and Hadaramout provinces. Yemen foiled the two suicide attacks on September 15, days after al Qaeda urged Muslims to target Western interests, especially oil installations. Four bombers were killed when Yemeni security forces blew up four rigged cars at dawn, before they reached their targets, the Interior Ministry said. A guard working for an oil firm was also killed though there was no damage to state-owned facilities. The suspects pleaded innocent to the charges and the judge adjourned the trial for two weeks to give the defence lawyers time to prepare their case. Six of the suspects said they were tortured in custody forced to sign confessions. Mohammed al Shirahi, brother of one of suspects, Ahmed al Shirahi, said his brother was ill, "they arrested him without any charges, there is nothing on him". Moyeen Mohammed al Deeb, brother of one of the suspects, Zeyad al Deeb, said "I am sure that my brother has done nothing. There is nothing on Zeyad, Mokbell Al Malki and Osama Al Sirri, who were arrested at the same time, (they are innocent)." There was no claim of responsibility for the attacks but Yemen said following day it had broken up the al Qaeda-linked cell behind them and seized explosives the group was planning to use in attacks on the capital Sanaa. Yemen, a minor oil producer, is the ancestral home of al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. It joined the U.S.-led war on terror launched after the Sept 11, 2001 attacks on the United States and has been battling Islamic militants for years. The attacks were the first on oil facilities in Yemen since the 2002 bombing of the French oil supertanker Limburg off the its coast. In 2000, a suicide attack on the U.S. warship Cole killed 17 U.S. sailors. Yemen, on the southern top of the Arabian peninsula, has been widely seen in the West as a haven for Muslim militants, including al Qaeda supporters.

ITN Source | March 4, 2007

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