Naturally. Bruce http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/world/20060708-1546-yemen-militanttrial.h tml Yemeni court acquits 19 suspected al-Qaeda members of terrorism By Ahmed Al-Haj ASSOCIATED PRESS
3:46 p.m. July 8, 2006 SAN'A, Yemen - Nineteen alleged al-Qaeda members accused of plotting to assassinate Westerners and blow up a hotel used by Americans were acquitted Saturday by a judge who also exonerated some of fighting U.S. troops in Iraq. The accused denied many of the charges, but some had confessed to fighting U.S. troops in Iraq, and had Iraqi stamps in their passports. <http://www.signonsandiego.com/images/t.gif> <http://www.signonsandiego.com/images/t.gif> Advertisement <http://oas.signonsandiego.com/RealMedia/ads/click_lx.ads/www.uniontrib.com/ news/world/20060708-1546-yemen-militanttrial.html/921904274/x32/land_rover_3 00x250_feb06/land_rover_300x250_042706.html/31383038343361353434613532353330 > Land Rover <http://oas.signonsandiego.com/RealMedia/ads/Creatives/land_rover_300x250_fe b06/http://oas.signonsandiego.com/image.gif> "This does not violate (Yemeni) law," presiding judge Ahmed al-Baadani said. "Islamic sharia law permits jihad against occupiers." The 14 Yemenis and five Saudis were accused of forming a gang to assassinate Americans and Westerners in Yemen, and of joining the so-called holy war against the U.S.-led coalition in Iraq. One defendant testified he had returned home to perpetrate jihad against Americans in Yemen, a U.S. ally and the ancestral homeland of Osama bin Laden. But the prosecution failed to provide "adequate evidence that the defendants were plotting attacks against foreigners or planning to assassinate Americans in Yemen," al-Baadani said. The defendants greeted the verdict with cries of "God is Great!" from behind the bars of a cage in the courtroom. Mohammed al-Maqaleh, an expert in Islamist affairs who frequently appears in the Yemeni media, described the verdict as a "shock" and a sign that President Ali Abdullah Saleh was trying to drum up support from Muslim radicals ahead of the coming presidential elections. Yemen, long regarded as a haven for al-Qaeda, was the scene of the October 2000 suicide bombing against the USS Cole that killed 17 American sailors. But the country allied itself with the United States after Sept. 11 and waged a crackdown on militants. Saleh nonetheless has long-standing ties with Islamic militants, who have stood by the administration since the 1980s. "This (verdict) is a change for the judiciary in Yemen," said Ali al-Kurdi, one of the defendants, who spent three years in Afghanistan in the 1990s. "It is fair, something unusual." Al-Kurdi was charged with being linked to al-Qaeda. The defendants were arrested in early 2005 and accused of having contact with al-Qaeda in Iraq leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and receiving directions from him to attack a Western-owned hotel in the Yemeni city of Aden. Al-Zarqawi was killed June 7 in a U.S. airstrike in Iraq. Saleh's announcement that he will again run for president broke earlier promises to step down after 28 years at the helm of this impoverished Arab nation. Five Yemeni opposition parties have chosen Faisal bin Shamlan, a former oil industry executive to challenge him. Bin Shamlan has spoken out against al-Qaeda and denounced corruption. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Yahoo! Groups gets a make over. See the new email design. http://us.click.yahoo.com/XISQkA/lOaOAA/yQLSAA/TySplB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -------------------------- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: osint@yahoogroups.com Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. OSINT, as a part of The Intelligence Network, is making it available without profit to OSINT YahooGroups members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their activities, methods, techniques, human rights, civil liberties, social justice and other intelligence related issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
