Aden Bombing Trial Opens and 7 more Suspects of USS Cole Arrested [Archives:2001/15/Front Page]

The Aden’s Sira court opened Saturday the trial of five persons suspected of carrying out the bombings that targeted a church, a hotel and the office of the Saba news agency, court sources said. The five suspects are members of the Aden-Abyan Islamic Army. The five; Nasser Ali al-Sheib, Ana Mohammed Abdu, Fares al-Issai, Saleh Hassan al-Dasm appeared before court. The fifth accused, Ali Saeed Gayoul, still at large, is being tried in absentia. Gayoul is also said to be involved in the October 13 bombing of the British Embassy in Sana’a, one day after the suicide bombing of the American USS Cole in Aden harbor that killed 17 US sailors and wounded 39 others. During the session, Judge Mohammed Al-Junaid read out the charges that included illegal possession of bombs, carrying out bombing attack, disrupting public security and sabotage. If convicted, they could get up to 15 years imprisonment. During the hearing, the chief prosecutor demanded the death sentence against the five accused.
Meanwhile, police in Aden arrested seven more suspects in connection with the suicide attack on the USS Cole Destroyer. The police are still tracking down another suspect named Maamun. Yemen Times learned from reliable sources that the recent arrests came after receiving information from the investigation teams that visited several countries for the purpose of collecting information about the suspects who are still at large. The sources added that security procedures have been tightened in Aden and that the arrest campaign has targeted Islamic militants from some Arab countries.

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