Sana'a, Yemen - Twenty-five Shiites accused of providing
support for a rebel group appeared before a state security court in
Sana'a on Saturday.
The defendants, aged between 18 and 36, appeared before the
court's chief judge, Radhwan al-Namir, in two separate groups.
They were charged with forming an armed gang in Sana'a loyal to
leading rebel Abdul-Malik al-Houthi.
Prosecutors said the defendants had provided financial and
logistic aid to rebels who fought government forces near the Yemeni
capital last year in support of a Shiite rebellion in the north-
western province of Saada.
The men were charged with forming armed gangs and planning to
carry out sabotage, murder and bombings, according to the charge
sheet.
They were among 190 insurgents captured by security forces during
the battles that broke out in Bani-Hushaish, some 30 kilometres north
of Sana'a, last May. That fighting continued for nearly three months.
Only one of the accused pleaded not guilty to the charges against
him. The other 24 defendants refused to plea, saying the court had no
constitutional mandate.
The judge adjourned the trial until May 30.
Last week, the court sentenced three Shiite rebels to up to 12
years in prison after it convicted them of supporting the Saada
rebels led by Abdul-Malik al-Houthi.
Fighting between army forces and the rebels has flared
intermittently in Saada since mid-2004, leaving hundreds of soldiers
and insurgents dead. The rebels, known as Houthis, belong to the
Zaidi sect of Shiite Islam.
In June 2007, the government and al-Houthi signed a Qatari-
sponsored peace agreement, but tensions have since been on the rise
between al-Houthi's followers and government forces in Saada.
Authorities have accused the rebels of trying to reinstall the
rule of Shiite imams, which was toppled by a republican revolution in
northern Yemen in 1962.
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