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Mansour Saleh Dalil suspected of being a member of the Al-Qaeda accused
of involvement in three attacks against the military, stand behind bars
after being given the death sentence by Yemeni Specialized Criminal
Court, in Sana'a, capital of Yemen, July 7, 2010. (Xinhua)
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SANA’A, July 13 — Four of the 16 convicted terrorists who are members of the Al-Qaeda Tarim terrorist cell in Yemen were sentenced to death last Sunday.
The court had began its first trial of the suspects in March 2009 for their involvement in several attacks targeting local and foreign nationals and interests, as well as oil facilities in Hadramout, Aden and the capital Sana'a.
Some of the other members received lighter sentences. Five men had their sentences reduced from 15 to 8 years, while another two received 12 years in prison instead of the death sentence.
The state security court explained the variation in sentences by reference to their involvement in terrorist acts, and that some of the culprits - especially the younger ones - were deceived youth misled into joining terror groups.
The terrorist cell includes 11 Yemeni, four Syrians and a Saudi. They were accused of forming an armed gang targeting vital installations and foreign tourists in 2007 and 2008.
The group was implicated in several terrorist operations in Yemen including failed attacks on the US embassy and a residential complex housing foreigners.
The group was also charged with carrying out an attack in Dawan district of Hadramout governorate on January 18, 2008, in which two Belgian tourists and a Yemeni were killed, and two Yemenis and one Belgian wounded.
The group claimed the suicide attack on a military camp in Sayoun on July 25, 2008, in which one soldier and the bomber were killed and 17 others, including 7 women, were wounded. They also claimed attacks on several security checkpoints in Hadramout.
The group was also charged with carrying out a mortar attack in 2008 that targeted the US embassy in Sana'a but missed and instead hit an adjacent school, injuring three police officers and four girls.
The cell was also behind the attacks on the oil refinery in the city of Aden and on the Chinese oil company in Al-Khasa'a district, and on the custom authority in Sana'a on April 30, 2008.
Intensive clampdown against terroristsThe Yemeni Interior Ministry said on Wednesday that it had captured a fugitive Saudi man, who is on Saudi Arabia's most wanted list.
In a statement posted on its website, the ministry identified the wanted Saudi man as Abdullah Faraj Mohammed Mahmoud Lujoubar, saying that "he was a member of an Al-Qaeda cell which was raided by security forces on Monday in Fuh area, west of the capital city of Hadramout governorate, Mukalla."
"According to the documents seized in the terrorist den on Monday, the group was plotting to launch attacks targeted on the security headquarters and vital economic and oil facilities in Hadramout," the statement said.
It added that the documents also contained very important information that would help security agencies to dismantle several other Al-Qaeda cells and to arrest other Al-Qaeda affiliates in Yemen.
"Besides the documents, the police found an explosive belt, grenades, a laptop, a number of SIM cards and video tapes inside the hideout of the cell," said the statement.
On Monday, a four-member group of Al-Qaeda opened fire on security forces in an attempt to flee a cordon setup by the police around the group's hideout in Fuh area, killing two soldiers, said a statement posted on the defense ministry's website.
"The security forces captured two members of the Al-Qaida group and are now tracking the pair who managed to escape the security siege," the statement added. The recently captured Saudi fugitive has been identified as one of the two who initially escaped.
Security forces detained eights other terrorists from the cell in several other security operations in Hadramout governorate, east Yemen, the Ministry of Interior said on Sunday.
Yemen has intensified security operations and air raids against terrorist groups, after the Yemen-based Al-Qaeda wing claimed responsibility for a failed Christmas day attempt to blow up a US passenger plane bound for Detroit last year.