Eight admit planning attacks in Yemen

Eight suspected al-Qaida members admitted planning attacks on the British embassy in Yemen when they went on trial today.

The eight told the court in San’a, the capital, that they had planned to attack the British and Italian embassies and the French Cultural Centre and received money and instructions from al-Qaida operatives in Saudi Arabia.

They face five to 10 years in jail if convicted. The trial was adjourned to March 28 for defence hearings.

Six convicted terrorists were sentenced to two years in jail in another case today.

The trials, which were held under tight security, were the latest in a series of Yemeni cases involving the terror network of Osama bin Laden, who has ancestral ties to this tribal-dominated Arabian Peninsula country which has long been a haven for Islamic extremists.

Security forces in armoured vehicles and machine gun-toting jeeps blocked streets leading to the court and snipers were posted on rooftops of nearby buildings.