39 Suspected Oil Facility Bombers on Trial
Presidential cousin-in-law al-Darhani proclaims his innocence, saying the Interior Minstry had promised him a job in return for his “efforts” but he got thrown in jail instead.
April 15, 2007 -A terror network of 39 suspects was tried Sunday in Sana’a under the charges of planning to blast oil facilities in Marib and Hadramout provinces.
The prosecution said that the defendants attempted to assassinate senior security figures.
It said that they planned to assassinate the chairman of Political Security Apparatus, Alib al-Qamish, his former deputy, Mohammad al-sormi and the political security officer, Nabil Basha.
The prosecution also said that they planned to bomb Shahran Hotel, its housing compound in which foreigners, Yemenis and the Qatari ambassador lived.
In the hearing headed by the judge, Radwan al-Namer , the ninth defendant ,Hussain al-Darhani,39,asked to release him ,affirming that he was not involved in the case .
It is worth reclaiming that Al-Darhni was a bodyguard of the Yemeni opposition candidate, Faisal Bin Shamlan, in the last presidential campaign and was arrested a day before the elections. He said that the Head of Fighting-terror in the Interior Minister, Hisham al-Ghazali ,had thanked him for his efforts and told him that the president will reward him for his job, but he lately found out that he was rewarded with being put in jail.
As for the other 38th defendants, they denied the charges issued against them, saying that they had confessed due to torture and constraints.
Judge Radwan al-Nimr adjourned the trial until next Sunday.
Abu-Bakr al-Rabie, is he actually in jail or home with his Dad? Tharhani, Darhani, is an innocent by-stander, he says. An RPG? This is the first I’m hearing of an RPG, up to now it was rigged cars.
YO:
The Specialized Criminal Court, presided over by Judge Radwan al-Namir, has decided to release Mousa al-Housam, one of the 36 men accused of terrorist activity, specifically targeting oil installations in Marib and Hadhramawt last year. No reason was given for al-Housam’s release. At the beginning of its session last Sunday, the court heard evidence by the prosecution, including confessions purportedly made in prison by six of the accused. Abu Bakr al-Rabyee, the brother of alleged mastermind of the attacks Fawwaz al-Rabyee, was among those who was said to have confessed. Fawwaz al-Rabyee was killed by the army late last year in the region of Bani Hoshaish after a yearlong manhunt following his escape from the Political Security Prison.The prosecution accused the 36 men of forming an armed gang during the period from February to October 2006 with the intention of carrying criminal and terrorist acts aimed at disturbing the peace and endangering the safety of the community. They are further charged with killing a Yemeni security guard during their failed attempt to blow up oil facilities in Safer and al-Dhaba. The confessions were read in court by the prosecutor who said that al-Rabyee was assigned to canvass the neighborhood of Haddah in Sana’a to locate the homes of foreigners working in Yemen, and target them for attack. He also searched for houses to rent to use as bases of operations for the group and conceal their caches of explosives, as well as distributing inflammatory literature.
This was reportedly done with the help of his brother Fawwaz. According to the prosecutor, defendent Abdullah al-Rajawi said in his confession that he had met al-Rabyee and then allowed him to hide Kalashnikov assault rifle and materials for making explosives in his car. The prosecution also said that Abdul-Karim al-Omisi had confessed to meeting Fawwaz al-Rabyee who asked him if he would accompany him to Marib, and then gave him 500 Saudi riyals to buy clothes similar to the clothes of al-Qaeda members, and also provided him with contacts and sustenance.
Defendant Abdel Rahman al-Moustka, also known as Abu Khattab, reportedly admitted that he had concealed Fawwaz al-Rabyee in his home for a month and a half after his escape from prison. Defendant Hussein al-Tharhani said that he had rented his shop to a number of young people and that they used the space to conceal a number of explosives materials for a period of 10 days, without his knowledge. Al-Tharhani, 39, demanded that he be released, saying that he had not been involved in any criminal activity. Al-Tharhani briefly worked as a bodyguard for opposition candidate Faisal Bin Shamlan during last year’s presidential election.
All of the defendants denied such accusations against them and said that their confessions were made under duress, coercion and the threat of torture. The prosecution claims that the group had planned to attack residents of the housing complex adjacent to the Ramada Hotel in Haddah. It also claims that the group was targeting Yemeni businessmen and western interests, and were equipped with explosives and other weapons, had rented shops and houses to conceal their activity and had vehicles with forged license plates.
The group also had communications systems and disguises, including women’s clothing and other tools to carry out the attacks. They were also charged for causing explosions at the natural gas refinery in Safer, Marib and oil tanks in the port of Dhaba, al-Shehr, and Hadramawt governorate using rocket propelled grenades, and cars equipped with TNT, which resulted in the death of Mohamed Saleh al-Makhzoumi, who was a guard at the oil installation in the port of Dhaba. The court is adjourned until Sunday, April 29, when it will hear the confession of the other accused.
