THE CONFESSION IN THE  CITY CENTER EXPLOSION TRIAL [Archives:1999/42/Front Page]

SANAA: The three Yemenis and two Indians who were involved in the City Center Explosion that rocked Sanaa city last August have confessed to their compicity in the crime. They admitted that they helped detonate the explosion that killed 4 for insurance reasons. Yesterday, the trial continued against the six men, including a Yemeni tried in absentia, who are charged with killing four and injuring 20 others in the explosion. 
The men on trial confessed that they had helped the owner, Al-Omeiry, who was among the victims of the explosion, to bomb the supermarket in order to collect the insurance money of USD 3.5 million. 
This confession of the victims was an unexpected development, as most of the observers thought that the incident was planned in order to kill the owner. Despite the confessions, some people still cannot understand why the owner did not escape from the spot of the explosion. In other words, they cannot believe that Al-Omeiry was too foolish to have caused the explosion before getting away from there to a safe place. His son, who was in the car, was among the ones who confessed that all this happened for insurance reasons. 
The horrifying City Center Supermarket explosion ended up to be no more than an insurance scam. At the beginning, it was thought to be a result of a missile. Some thought that it was an attempt to disrupt the security conditions in the republic through such terrorist attacks. Indeed, the results of the inspections led to an unexpected surprise, which truly amazed the public in various ways. 
During the trial hearing that continued yesterday, Sunday, October 17, the testimonies of the defendants, who were two Indians and 3 Yemenis were shocking. They all confessed that they have done what they did, and organized the explosion by orders from the supermarket’s owner, who was the first victim in the disastrous explosion that rocked the capital. 
The five people involved in exploding the supermarket confessed that they used 29 petrol bottles and 15 gas bottles in the explosion. The persons involved were: 
Abdulla Hussain Al-Baziah, Yemeni 
Saeed Abdul Rahman Saeed Samnah, Yemeni 
Abdul Karim Samnah, Yemeni 
Mr. Sukudev Singh, Indian 
Mr. Sukchain Singh, Indian 
The eldest son of Al-Omairi, Mohammed Abdulah Al-Omairi who is tried in absentia had flew out of Yemen several days back. Lawyers Mohammed Ahmad Al-Harazi, Mohammed Ghaleb Al-Wakeel and Abdulla Mahdi were present during the persecution as the accused defenders. After the confessions were made, the case seems to be almost over, as all the evidence gathered shows that the explosion was planned and implemented by the owner and some others who have all agreed that this incident resulted because of the greed of the owner to get the insurance money. Too bad for him he was the main victim in his attempt. Not only did he lose his life and money, but he also caused many foreigners and tourists a spectacular supermarket in the heart of Sanaa City.
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