Twenty-five Shiites on trial in Yemen over support for rebels

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.