Court jails two for trying to kill U.S. Ambassador [Archives:2006/927/Local News]
SANA'A, Mar. 7 ) On Monday, the State Security Specialized Penal Court (SSSPC) sentenced two suspects to five years in prison for attempting to assassinate former U.S. Ambassador to Yemen, Edmund Hall, in 2004.
Under the verdict, Hozam Al-Mas and Khalid Al-Halilah faced a maximum five-year imprisonment term after being convicted of charges attributed to them by the Attorney General.
Issued by Judge Umar Al-Ba'adani, the verdict stated that the suspects will be jailed in special places and receive kind treatment while their seized explosives will be confiscated to the State's Treasury. Seized weapons included hand grenades and a Russian-made pistol.
The court began trying the suspects in January on charges of attempting to kill the U.S. envoy. They threw a hand grenade at him as he was entering a shop in the Hadda area. Charges were based on the Attorney General's indictment that the suspects observed the ambassador's car in Al-Sab'een area, Sana'a.
Accomplice Al-Halilah waited inside a taxi while Al-Mas jumped from the shop's fence carrying a pistol and two hand grenades, plotting to kill the envoy after he parked his car and entered the shop. When a policeman saw him and ordered him to stop, Al-Mas fired on police and fled the scene.
Al-Mas pleaded guilty to attempting to kill the ambassador, but told the SSSPC he was psychologically ill. Taxi driver Al-Halilah pleaded not guilty, saying he only drove Al-Mas to an arms market.
On Saturday, the SSSPC cleared four Iraqis of charges that they belong to the former Iraqi Intelligence Organization and plotted to attack the U.S. and British embassies in Sana'a.
Under the verdict, the Iraqis were released and granted the right to reside in Yemen, while their five seized handbags containing explosives and a remote-controlled bombing device were confiscated.
The four suspects were arrested March 26, 2003 on charges of being involved in forming an armed band plotting to launch offensives on the U.S. and British embassies.
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