Saudi court sentences al-Qaeda militant to death for 2004 attack

A Saudi judge sentenced an al-Qaida militant to death and sentenced 10 other militants to prison for their roles in a 2004 attack on a U.S. company in Yanbu. The defendants, seven of whom are brothers, were convicted of aiding the assailants who attacked the company in which seven people -- two Americans, two Britons, an Australian and a Canadian and a Saudi police officer -- were killed, MENA reported Monday. The defendant sentenced to death was convicted of making explosives used in the attack and being trained by a member of the group who was killed in the assault, SPA news agency reported. The other defendants received prison sentences of three to 12 years on charges such as sheltering one of the assailants, weapons possession and helping to fund the attack. A wave of al-Qaida attacks in Saudi Arabia from 2003 to 2006 prompted authorities to crack down on the local affiliate of the group, prompting many of the network's militants to move their bases to neighboring Yemen, merging into al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula.