Yemen upholds sentences against Qaeda fighters

A Yemeni appeals court upheld the death sentence against two Al-Qaeda members accused of carrying out several lethal attacks targeting security officials, the state news agency Saba reported Tuesday. The court in Sanaa "sentenced to death two Al-Qaeda militants convicted of killing military and security leaders during the period between July and November 2009," Saba said. The men, Mansour Saleh Salem Daleel and Mubarak Ali Hadi al-Shabwani were arrested on December 11 in the Marib province of eastern Yemen. On July 7, 2010, a Sanaa court specially set up to try terrorism cases sentenced them to death. The pair were accused of "participating in an armed gang which carried out criminal actions against military and security officials and members of the armed forces," according to the list of charges against them. They were also accused of having "used arms to resist men of the public authority" who were responsible for arresting them in Al-Shabwan in Marib, "killing two soldiers and a civilian and wounding six others." The two men were further accused of killing three officials along with their two companions while they were driving on November 3 in the southern province of Hadramut. They were also accused of killing a soldier in a July 2009 attack on an army truck loaded with weapons and ammunition. Meanwhile, "armed groups" attacked the power plant in Marib in retaliation to the verdict, defence ministry news wesbite 26sep.net reported, adding that the assault led to power cuts across several provinces. Until recently, Al-Qaeda militants held large swathes of territory across the country's south, but after a month-long government offensive that ended in June, most have fled to the more lawless desert regions of the east. Though weakened, the militants continue to launch hit and run attacks on government and civilian targets throughout the country.