SANAA, 23 August 2005 — Defendants at the trial of 36 suspected rebels from Yemen’s Zaidi community yesterday contested the legitimacy of the state security court trying them during a second, stormy hearing in Sanaa.

“Death to America, death to Israel, glory to Islam,” shouted the defendants, prompting judge Najib Qaderi to expel some of the accused from the dock.

Three of the defendants challenged the legitimacy of the court, charging that it was “illegitimate” and “unconstitutional” because President Ali Abdullah Saleh chairs the Supreme Judicial Council and appoints judges.

Twenty-seven of the defendants, who are accused of a spate of deadly attacks against security personnel in the capital, appeared in court yesterday.

A 28th defendant, a woman named Intissar Al-Sayani, did not come on grounds of pregnancy. Qaderi decided to put her father behind bars because he had guaranteed that she would show up. Eight defendants are being tried in absentia.

The hearing, held amid tight security measures, was the second since the trial opened a week ago.

Prosecutor Saeed Al-Aqel last week accused the defendants of a spate of attacks on soldiers and military vehicles in Sanaa in recent months, in which one officer was killed and 27 other people were wounded.

“They were also planning to attack the intelligence services building, an army barracks and the airport as well as the (state) television. They had prepared the arms, ammunition and rockets for these attacks,” he charged. The trial adjourned until Aug. 29.

The Zaidis are dominant in northwestern Yemen. President Saleh, himself a Zaidi, has accused the rebels who were engaged in fierce fighting with government forces in the country’s northwest, in which hundreds died, of seeking to overthrow his republican regime.

Flash Floods Kill 12

Flash floods have killed a dozen people in Yemen and have injured at least six others, officials.

“Twelve people have died in the last two days due to heavy rains and there have been six injuries,” a police official said Sunday, adding that 50 farmland animals had also died in the floods.

The country’s meteorological office has warned the heavy rains will continue for the next two days.