The suspects are being tried again after the public prosecutor had moved the appeals court for a reassessment of the charges and punishments of the suspects.

The 17 suspects were tried for just traveling to Afghanistan and Iraq in the first trial and were serving out their jail terms, when the prosecutor found out that these suspects were involved in major terror activities, and were not just visiting these troubled countries.

He then appealed the sentences to be overturned and the 17 suspects to be charged with fresh indictments. The appeals court upheld the prosecutors’ plea and ordered the suspects back to trial in the special criminal court.

The new charges against the 17 militants include the forming of an Al-Qaeda terror cell and making plans to attack oil installations in the Kingdom.

Abdullah Al-Saadan, spokesman of the Justice Ministry, said the militants were acting on the directives of Al-Qaeda leader Ayman Al-Zawahri. “They also plotted to assassinate prominent personalities in the Kingdom to destabilize the country,” he added.

The defendants are also accused of holding boot camps for terror activities in the Kingdom and Iraq, coordinating with agents in Syria to enter Iraq and providing weapons and funds for terrorist operations.

Lawyers of most defendants were present at Monday’s session while some preferred to represent themselves. The media were not allowed, but a representative of the Human Rights Commission was present.

“The judge asked the defendants and their lawyers to give their replies by the next session after studying the charges and previous court verdicts,” Al-Saadan said.

Defendants No. 4, 5, 15 and 16 acknowledged their confessions to the investigators, except for some variants that they mentioned in their replies.

Among the charges against Defendant No. 1 are his participation in a terror cell, his plan to assassinate a social personality and director of a national company. He is alleged to have financed a TV channel that incited young men to join the terrorist organization. He also tried to enter an arms warehouse in a military facility, and was part of a militant group that attacked the Abqaiq refinery in the Eastern Province. He allegedly sheltered a criminal who sold explosives to Al-Qaeda leaders. He is also charged with the possession of a large quantity of weapons and explosives that were aimed at undermining the Kingdom’s security.

Defendant No. 2 was the mastermind of a number of terrorist attacks including the attack on the Abqaiq plant. He also allegedly mobilized Saudi youths to join Al-Qaeda and take part in fighting in Iraq. He directed those going to Iraq to a forger, who provided them with fake travel documents. He is also accused of dealing with Yemeni agents to smuggle weapons and explosives to the Kingdom.

The charges against Defendant No. 3 include support to the other defendants in strengthening Al-Qaeda in the Kingdom. He also allegedly organized a camp in the Kingdom to train people in using weapons and arms. He had read the book of Abu Zubaida, an Al-Qaeda ideologue, and had become well-versed in eluding security officers and adopting diversionary tactics. He prepared the grounds for a boot camp on a mountain in the south to train Al-Qaeda members, in addition to trying to break into an arms warehouse to stockpile explosives for terrorist attacks.

Defendant No. 4 is alleged to have organized a training camp for new recruits and financed a number of terrorist operations, while Defendant No. 5 is accused of establishing close contact with Defendant No. 1 and possessing eight bombs and machine guns that were used during the Abqaiq terror operation.

Other suspects were accused of being Al-Qaeda associates, possessing weapons and committing various terror acts.

Meanwhile, a security source told Arab News that the terror cell was also trying to possess chemical weapons, and were in the process of getting one such weapon having destructive powers that could reach three kilometers. He also said that the cell's coordinator in Iraq (Abu Al-Walid) was facilitating the entry of Saudi militants to Iraq.