SANAA, 4 May 2006 — A Yemeni court yesterday sentenced the suspected second-in-command of the Al-Qaeda network in Yemen to three years and one month in jail.
In a brief session, the state security court found Mohammad Hamdi Al-Ahdal, 35, guilty of funneling funds for militants fighting in Afghanistan and Chechnya.
Initially, he had been charged with financing attacks against Western targets in Yemen, but the court dropped that charge.
The court’s presiding judge, Najeeb Al-Qadri, said prosecutors failed to link Al-Ahdal to certain attacks in the country.
But he said the defendant confessed during the trial that he had raised funds for Mujahedeen (holy warriors) fighting in Afghanistan and Chechnya.
As the judge pronounced the verdict, Al-Ahdal shouted cheerfully “Praise God.” Asked by reporters whether he would appeal the verdict, he said, “This is an unjust trial, I’ll not appeal.” Court officials said the prosecution would not appeal.
A Justice Ministry official said Al-Ahdal, who was arrested in November 2003, would be released by the end of this year if no appeal against the verdict was filed by the prosecution within the next 15 days.
“He has already spent more than two years in detention, and he has to spend only one-third of the sentence period,” said the official.
During the trial, Al-Ahdal rejected the charge of financing attacks in Yemen. But he admitted to providing financial aid to families of militants held in custody of US or Yemeni authorities.
“Yes, I have been giving financial aid to families of Mujahedeen, and I’m happy for doing that,” Al-Ahdal said at an April 18 hearing.
