SANAA, 29 January 2006 — A Yemeni appeal court yesterday imposed a gagging order on the trial of four alleged former Iraqi intelligence officers over a plot to blow up the US and British Embassies in Yemen in 2003.
Presiding Judge Saeed Al-Qattaa made the order after three present defendants asked him to prevent journalists reporting details of the trial as the court began hearing the case.
Ahmad Salman Al-Zabidi, 45, Ahmad Muthana Al-Aani, 36, and Muhammad Mahdi Abdul-Rahman, 42, who appeared before the state security court, said media reports about their trial could endanger their families in Iraq. They said their relatives in Iraq could be pursued by the US forces there.
A lower court acquitted the three men, and a fourth identified as Ali Rashid Al-Saadi, last October. Al-Saadi, who was tried in absentia, allegedly led the group.
