Yemen jails militants for plot to kill president

SANAA: A Yemeni court Sunday jailed three Al-Qaeda militants to between one and seven years after convicting them of plotting to assassinate President Abdu Rabbo Mansour Hadi and the American ambassador.
The same Sanaa court specializing in terrorism cases freed a fourth defendant held on similar charges based on time already served in prison, an AFP correspondent reported.
The defendants were accused of conspiring to carry out a suicide attack against Hadi using a vehicle laden with explosives, according to the charges read out by presiding judge Hilal Mahfal. But the suicide bomber who was to launch the attack was instead assigned to a different operation by an Al-Qaeda leader.
Instead he blew himself up on May 21, 2012 in a square in central Sanaa, killing nearly 100 soldiers taking part in a military parade marking the anniversary of Yemeni unification in 1990, Mahfal said.
It was the largest such bombing in Sanaa since Hadi, who had repeatedly vowed to battle Al-Qaeda, came to power in February 2012.
The defendants were also monitoring the movements of US Ambassador to Yemen Gerald Feierstein “to prepare to assassinate him,” according to the charge sheet.