SANAA: A Yemeni court jailed 19 defendants for up to 40 months over the weekend for forging documents so they could join the Iraq insurgency, possessing weapons and covering up for Al-Qaeda suspects. A total of 23 defendants, most of whom were captured in Syria before they could enter Iraq, were in court for the verdict on Saturday. Two were acquitted, and the court commuted the sentences of two more, ordering their release.
The 23 were also accused of having weapons and explosives, and some were charged with helping to hide fugitive Al-Qaeda suspects.
It was the latest in a series of trials of suspected militants in Yemen, but the defendants were not accused of plotting to target Western interests.
The impoverished Gulf country has seen several attacks in recent years, notably the Al-Qaeda bombing that killed 17 American sailors on the American destroyer USS Cole in the southern port of Aden in 2000.
A 2002 attack against the French oil tanker Limburg killed one Bulgarian crew member and wounded 12 others.
The government of President Ali Abdullah Saleh has cracked down on suspected Al-Qaeda militants in the wake of the September 11, 2001, attacks on the US. It has convicted several people, including a number in connection with the Cole and Limburg attacks.
Twenty-three Al-Qaeda suspects, including some linked to the attacks on the Cole and Limburg, escaped from jail in February, causing major embarrassment to the government.
Nine have since surrendered or been captured. - AFP