A Yemen court yesterday sentenced three Islamic militants to death for their part in the abduction and killing of Western tourists in December.
Announcing the results of the trial, Judge Najib Mohammed al-Qaderi said a fourth defendant was sentenced to 20 years in jail and a fifth was acquitted, as were nine other men who were tried in their absence.
The men had been charged with abducting 16 Western tourists and killing four of them. Other charges included highway robbery, sabotage and forming an armed militant group, called the Aden-Abyan Islamic Army, aimed at destabilising the government.
The men were arrested after a gun-battle between Yemeni troops and kidnappers holding 16 British, US and Australian tourists hostage. Three kidnappers were killed along with the three Britons and an Australian in the rescue operation on December 29th.
Among those sentenced to death was Zein al-Abideen al-Mehdar (28), the self-proclaimed commander of the little-known Aden-Abyan Islamic Army.
Mehdar's lawyer said his client would appeal the sentence.
"The judge had the sentence ready from the very beginning of the trial," Mehdar shouted in the court.
He called on the Aden-Abyan Islamic Army to resume its "holy" struggle against the West within 20 days.
Ten other men, including the son of Mr Abu Hamza al-Masri, head of the London-based Supporters of Sharia (Islamic law), are on trial in Yemen for plotting a bombing campaign there.
The human rights group, Amnesty International, expressed its concern about the appeal process.
"We certainly are worried about the process of appeal. In the past people were executed before the appeal period had expired," said Amnesty International spokesman, Mr Kamal Samari.