The specialized criminal court in Riyadh has sentenced to death a Saudi national while two others have been imprisoned for 27 to 33 years.

The defendants were accused of forming a terrorist cell and attacking a petrol facility in the east of the Kingdom in 2004, killing and injuring seven people and four Aramco employees.

The first defendant was accused of attacking Baqiq refinery by opening one of the gates to allow entry of two cars loaded with dynamite to blow up the refinery. The accused admitted to the crimes and said that he regretted not carrying out the explosions. He added he intended to carry out another suicide attack in Saudi Arabia.

The accused also left his military job because he thought it was wrong to work in military sector, and joined Al-Qaeda to carry out terrorist attacks in the Kingdom.

The second defendant was imprisoned for 33 years and slapped with a travel ban for a similar period after the end of his sentence.

The defendant watched the building of the Ministry of Interior and the emergency forces and drew pictures of them to provide them to the organization. He was involved in collecting information about Baqiq refinery and its international importance. The second man was also accused of communicating with Al-Qaeda fugitives, and communicated with Madinah cell and published articles about Al-Qaeda.

The third defendant was sentenced in absentia for 27 years for connections with Al-Qaeda and for mobilizing his brother in law to participate in the operation in Al-Baqiq.

The court confirmed that evidence has shown that the defendant had a computer containing a video clip about leaders of Al-Qaeda and military operations in places of unrest.