SANAA, 22 August 2004 — A Yemeni court will give its verdict on Aug. 28 on 14 men charged in connection with terror attacks, including the October 2002 bombing of the French supertanker Limburg, the senior judge in the trial said yesterday.
Ahmad Al-Jurmozi, the chief judge of the counter-terrorism court, set the date after hearing final statements by the prosecution and defense.
In his concluding argument, Chief Prosecutor Saeed Al-Aqil demanded the death penalty for seven of the defendants, and 10 years for the other seven.
Three lawyers defending five of the suspects asked the court to acquit their clients.
Nine of the defendants are standing trial without defense. Their lawyers withdrew from the case on June 7 after being prevented from copying case files.
Five of the 14 are charged with the attack on the Limburg off Yemen’s southeastern coast. A Bulgarian crew member was killed.
Prosecutors said two suicide attackers rammed a boat laden with explosives into the tanker as it entered the Al-Dhabba oil terminal. The 14 also plottedd suicide attacks on the embassies of the United States, Britain, France, Germany and Cuba and had plotted to assassinate former US Ambassador Edmund J. Hull. The plots were not carried out.
The group is also charged with an attack on a helicopter belonging to the Hunt Oil company of the US, and with bombing attacks on Yemeni intelligence service agents in 2003. No one was hurt in the attacks.
The trial began on May 29 and is Yemen’s first trial of militants charged with terrorist attacks. Six other Yemenis are currently on trial here accused of carrying out the October 2000 bombing of the US destroyer Cole which killed 17 American sailors, wounded 38 others and was claimed by the Al-Qaeda organization.
US Team Due in Yemen
A US military delegation is due in Yemen today for talks on bilateral security and military cooperation and combating terror, local sources and the US Embassy said yesterday.
The delegation will be headed by Brig. Gen. Samuel Helland, commander of Joint Forces in the Horn of Africa, who will be in Yemen on his “first formal and routine visit in this capacity,” an embassy spokesperson said.
The official weekly September 26 reported that the delegation will meet Yemeni officials in the ministries of interior and defense for security and military talks.
The focus will also be on counter-terrorism measures and ways of boosting cooperation in the exchange of information and training, said September 26, the mouthpiece of Yemen’s Defense Ministry.
Yemen, at the request of Washington, has cracked down on suspected Al-Qaeda members since the Sept. 11 attacks for which the terror network was blamed, and has received US help in fighting the militants.
September 26 also said the Yemeni coastguard will receive a new batch of gunboats from the United States over the next few weeks. Yemen earlier this year took delivery of 15 gunboats from Washington as part of the two governments’ heightened military cooperation. Yemeni officials say they need a total of 150 gunboats to maintain security along the country’s 2,400-km coastline.
Saleh to Visit UK
Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh will visit Britain next week for talks with Prime Minister Tony Blair and other British officials on bilateral relations, the Arab-Israeli conflict and Iraq, the state news agency SABA reported yesterday.
Saleh, who begins his visit on Thursday, will also be accompanied by a Yemeni business delegation which is to meet with British businessmen, SABA said, quoting Yemeni Foreign Minister Abu Bakr Al-Kurbi.
Talks will also focus on boosting bilateral economic and trade relations and encouraging British investments in Yemen as well as developing its free zone in Aden, the minister said.
