Sharia Alert from AP: "Landmark al Qaeda trial collapses"
SAN'A, Yemen (AP) -- The trial of 19 alleged al Qaeda members had been designed to showcase how serious Yemen was in the fight against terror. But the Islamic militants, accused of plotting to assassinate Westerners and blow up a hotel frequented by Americans, were all acquitted for lack of proof, the presiding judge ruled Saturday.
Prosecutors had failed to provide "adequate evidence that the defendants were plotting attacks against foreigners or planning to assassinate Americans in Yemen," the verdict said.
Critics say the decision points to the Yemeni president's bid to win the radical Islamic vote ahead of elections in September.
Several of the defendants did confess to having been in Iraq to fight U.S. troops there and had Iraqi stamps on their passport, the court heard. "But this does not violate [Yemeni] law," the judge said.
"Islamic Sharia law permits jihad against occupiers," he said.
Mohammed al-Maqaleh, an expert in Islamist affairs who frequently appears in Yemeni media, described the verdict as a "shock."
"The judiciary is collaborating with the Islamist extremists and this verdict is politicized," al-Maqaleh said on the telephone. He said it was another sign that President Ali Abdullah Saleh was trying to drum up support from Muslim radicals ahead of the coming presidential elections.
Saleh has long-standing ties with Islamic militants, who have stood by the administration since the 1980s. They sided with his northern government in the 1994 civil war and the successful battle against secessionists from the secular south.
Saleh has announced he will again run for president, breaking earlier promises to step down after 28 years at the helm of this impoverished Arab nation.
In defiance to Saleh, five Yemeni opposition parties have chosen Faisal bin Shamlan, a prominent businessman and former Cabinet minister, to challenge him. Bin Shamlan has spoken out against al Qaeda and won respect for denouncing corruption.
Osama bin Laden's family originally came from Yemen, which was long regarded as a haven for al Qaeda.
But the country, which was the scene of the October 2000 suicide bombing against the USS Cole that killed 17 American sailors, joined America's war on terror after September 11 and waged a crackdown on militants.
Muslim extremists remain popular, and the four-month trial of the suspected terrorists often produced elements of a farce, as an at-times raucous crowd followed heated discussions between the defendants and the judge.
All but one of the alleged militants have denied the charges, several stating they were arrested simply because they had fought in Iraq. But one defendant, Ali al-Harthi, acknowledged in court that he had returned home to perpetrate jihad, or holy war, against Americans in Yemen.
From behind the bars where they stood clad in blue prison uniforms Saturday, the 14 Yemeni and five Saudi defendants greeted the verdict with cries of "Allahu akbar" (God is great).
Families received the decision with cheers and claps. Some burst into tears.
"This [verdict] is a change for the judiciary in Yemen," said Ali al-Kurdi, one of the defendants. "It is fair, something unusual."
Al-Kurdi, from Yemen, has spent three years in Afghanistan in the '90s and was charged with being linked to al Qaeda, authorities said.
The state prosecutor appealed the collective acquittal, and the defendants were brought back to their cells at the intelligence services' jail where they have been held for more than two years.
"This [verdict] is a change for the judiciary in Yemen," said Ali al-Kurdi, one of the defendants. "It is fair, something unusual."
moslims' "fair" is "nightmare" not "unusual" for us common people untouched by the koran.
Of course it is FAIR.
The occupiers are kafir and hence fair game.
Why is anyone suprised.
Islamic law is hardly fair upon anyone but muslims and arab muslims at that.
Just imagine how our own western legal apparatus will be wrecked when Muslims penetrate our court system in large numbers. How could any Muslim judge, lawyer, jury member, or witness ever be trusted to follow the secular law, or to be truthful, when a fellow Muslim is on trial? Our justice system will be incessantly plagued with "jihad by the docket."
It is already happening here with the medical practitioners of Islamic origin. You have a distinct advantage(sometimes financial also) in obtaining the diagnosis and the certificate of choice if you are Muslim. As it is western money they do not see it as cheating but as their right.
I think that you have already found just how nondiscriminatory are muslims in the FBI(joke).
Give them some time. Pretty soon they will be wearing turbans the taliban style, and these 'criminals' will never even make the 'courts'. They will be treated as heroes and martyrs. Yemen is an 'ally' in this war and that slowed down their 'progress' towards being a fully fledged islamic state. Somalia is not hampered by such an alliance, and look how beautifully it is blooming into an islamic paradise. Fast.
What is the opposite of a "kangaroo court"?
(In Arabic, I think the word is "Sharia".)
Several of the defendants did confess to having been in Iraq to fight U.S. troops there and had Iraqi stamps on their passport, the court heard. "But this does not violate [Yemeni] law," the judge said.
++++++++++++++++++++++
It is ok to fight and kill Americans per Yemeni law per the Yemen judge any where as long as not in Yemen.....
Texican,
It is ok for muslims to kill infidels anywhere. On the home turf it is rather inconvenient with the state department breathing down the necks of these 'judges'. So long as the 'judges' are not in hot water, it is okay.
Good to see you. :)
Yeah, and in Saudi Arabia 7 Al Quaeda inmates "escaped' from jail last week...
Dar el Islam 19 -- Kuffar 0
Is anyone truly suprised? Whether we be Jewish pigs, British monkeys or just plain old American emissaries of the Great Satan - did we really think it would go in our favor? Nah! How much business do we give to Yemen? Time to pull the plug on those dollars!
Yemeni President, Ali Abdullah Saleh: 28 years of Islamic "leadership". 28 years of implementing the Perfect religion, as revealed to the Perfect Man, and the results are Perfectly clear:
Yemen is one of the poorest countries on Earth with rampant corruption, tribal wars, epidemic kidnappings, and blood revenge killings.
The population is one of the most illiterate on Earth as well. (77% for women)
Such a stunning example of the long-term effects that Shariah brings to a populace. (Coming soon to a location near you).
templar..whatever the result of western trials you at least have a fighting chnance no matter what your race, creed or cash status. Of course it is better if you are white and rich but still not as cut and dry as a kafir female in a Sharia law court
So,IMHO your comment is irrelevant as whatever the results of western trials (and I am no friend of any legal system) there at least was the aim of nondiscriminatory fairness initially.
well what do you expect from laws based on a faith dreamed up by a arab bandit 1800 or so years back when rading caravens ext and going off to fight in forian wars was the norm,a system of laws that unless your a moslem of the sect the court belongs to you s.o.l.
No doubt these individual are even now planning their next attack on the infidels. Probably using intelligence given to them by the Yemani government.
It is time to make it very hard for the Yemani government to get assistance or money from the US.
If the Yemani government has any US suppied military vehicles/aircraft, then the pipeline to replacement parts just dried up.
If the Yemani government has any US supplied computers/electronic equipment, the repair parts being delivered just became infected with unfixable bugs/viruses.
If the Yemani government government gets any food/medicine from the US, these shipments just got reduced and no immediate future plans to resume old quotas.
If the Yemani government has any financial assets know to US sources, these just became frozen or seized. We could use the money to pay for artificial limbs needed by US servicemen/women injured in the war on terror.
To Yemen I say YOUR MOMMA.
It were two yemenese who bombed the USS Cole on 12 October, 2000. This was the place where the father of osama was born. al qaeda has a very strong and old network in yemen.
We need to constantly remind all who will listen that we are engaged on a battlefied, not at a crime scene. Judicial proceedings are not the answer.
Islamic Sharia law permits jihad against occupiers," he said
There is a big problem with that for infidels. The small picture is that muslims want to reclaim all lands once under Islamic control. The bigger picture is that Allah created the entire planet for muslims. So the end goal is to reclaim it all. Every non muslim is an occupier and a legitimate target for jihadists.