SANAA, 22 July 2004 — Five Yemeni suspects charged with the October 2000 attack on the US destroyer USS Cole off Yemen insisted yesterday on their refusal to enter pleas until their lawyers were given access to the case’s files.
The counterterrorism court, headed by Judge Najeeb Al-Qaderi, instructed the public prosecution last week to allow defense lawyers to review their client’s files but not copy them, an offer that was rejected by the defense team.
The defendants refused to answer questions of the chief judge, saying they would not enter pleas before their lawyers had gotten all files of the case.
Al-Qaderi considered their position as an “abstention” and decided to go on with the trial’s procedures, saying the court would start on July 28 to hear the testimony of prosecution witnesses.
Among the five defendants present were three key suspects in the attack: Jamal Muhammad Al-Badawi, alias Abu Abdur Rahman, 39; Fahd Muhammad Al-Qasaa, also known as Abu Houdhifa, 30; and Maamoun Ahmad Onswa, alias Mutaz, 30.
The two others are police officers Ali Muhammad Al-Muraqib, 30, and Murad Salih Al-Sorwri, 27. They were charged with providing the other suspects with forged identity documents.
As a procedural move, the court appointed a lawyer to defend the main suspect in the bombing, Abdul Raheem Al-Nashri, who is believed to be in US custody and is being tried in absentia.
Al-Nashri, also known as Mulla Bilal, was arrested in the United Arab Emirates in November 2002 and handed over to US authorities. He was described at the time as Al-Qaeda’s chief of operations in the Arabian Gulf.
Yemen has formally asked the United States to extradite the man after the trial began, according to official sources.
Prosecutors said two suicide bombers, identified as Ibrahim Al-Thour, alias Al-Nibras, and Hassan Al-Khamri carried out the attack. The two men allegedly drove a dinghy laden with more than 200 kilos of high explosives and rammed it into the destroyer as it stopped at Aden port for refueling.
The powerful explosion on Oct. 12, 2000 punched a big hole in the hull of the destroyer, leaving 17 US sailors aboard the vessel dead and 33 injured.
The six men were accused of forming an armed group to carry out terrorist acts, endangering state security and the society’s stability, and harming the country’s highest interests.
