Plot against European embassies in Yemen. "Terror Suspects Admit Yemen Embassy Plot," from AP:
SAN'A, Yemen - Eight suspected Al Qaeda members, including an Iraqi with Swiss nationality, admitted in court Monday to planning attacks on Western embassies here, while six convicted terrorists were sentenced to two years in jail in another case.The trials were the latest in a series of Yemeni cases involving the terror network of Usama bin Laden, who has ancestral ties to this tribal-dominated Arabian Peninsula country that has long been a haven for Islamic extremists.
The eight suspected Al Qaeda members told the court on the opening day of their trial Monday that they had planned to attack the British and Italian embassies and the French Cultural Center in the Yemeni capital and that they received money and instructions from Al Qaeda operatives in Saudi Arabia. They face five to 10 years in jail if convicted....
Is there ever ANY follow up in the Western press about these supposed "10 year" prison sentences for ANY of these terrorists in ANY of the Islamic countries where they are caught planning mass-murder?
How many are really sentenced?
How long do they actually serve?
And under what conditions? (House arrest? Work-release? etc.)
I sincerely doubt that 25% are ever convicted, and fewer than that serve even a 1/3 of their sentence.
It appears more to be a shell game to confuse and mollify the gullible West, while preserving these proven terrorists for future actions.
What happens to them after they serve their sentences?
Do they change their minds?
Open falafel kiosks?
Stop believing in the radical sayings of Allah?
I suspect that they are more likely considered (sub rosa) heroes by the majority of the populace in these Muslim countries, from Yemen to Pakistan, Iraq to Morocco. Fighters for Islam who need to go under cover (jail) for a while, to deceive the naive, short-attention-span foreign observers.
Only a death penalty would make sure they were NOT just getting pumped up in a Yemeni prison gym, learning new tricks from the online ararchist's cookbook, and returning refreshed and renewed for the endless fight.