Yemen trial of Qaeda fighters comes to an end

The State Security Court in Yemen’s capital Sanaa concluded on Wednesday the trial of 10 al-Qaeda members who are accused of a suicide attack in al-Sabeen Square, which killed around 100 soldiers and inured 200 more during a military parade in May 2012. The specialized penal court, headed by Judge Helal Mahfal Ghali, heard the final arguments and will deliver a verdict on September 25.? The prosecution accused the defendants of being part of an armed and organised gang connected to al-Qaeda who were targeting military forces and facilities as well as the killing of military personnel. According to the prosecution, the defendants were also planning further suicide ?operations and assassinations in Sanaa. Leader of the Yemen-based al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, ?Nasser al-Wahishi, vowed recently in a letter titled “to the prisoners in the jails of the oppressors” that ?he will soon free his supporters from Yemeni prisons, without mentioning how the ?organisation plans to do so.?