British teen admits forming armed gang in Yemen

February 13, 1999
Web posted at: 10:04 p.m. EST (0304 GMT)

ADEN, Yemen (Reuters) -- A British Muslim charged with plotting bombings in Yemen admitted Saturday in court he formed an armed group to commit sabotage in the Arab state.

Mohamed Mustafa Kamal, 17, denied other charges including possession of a grenade. Kamal is the son of prominent Islamist Abu Hamza al-Masri of the London-based Supporters of Sharia (Islamic law) group, who is sought by Yemen for links to militants accused of the kidnap and killing of Western tourists.

Asked by the judge how he pleaded to charges of forming "an armed gang to carry out a collective criminal program," Kamal said in Arabic, "As far as forming an armed gang, I admit." He denied the other charges.

Three other suspects in the case, Shaaz Nabi, 20, and Ayaz Hussein, 25, both British Muslims, and an Algerian traveling on a French passport that the French Embassy says was forged, denied the charges.

The Algerian suspect was identified by the court as Kamel Ali Mohammed Sagheer, while the passport he was carrying gave his name as Ali Meksen.

The charges carry a maximum penalty of 10 years in jail. A Yemeni judicial source said Kamal, a minor under Yemeni law, will serve only half his term if convicted.

Yemeni authorities arrested the four in January after they were cornered in the hills. Another group of six, including five British Muslims, have also been charged with planning sabotage in Yemen.

Yemen says the suspects are linked indirectly to a Yemeni militant group, the Aden Abyan Islamic Army, whose members are on trial accused of kidnapping 16 Western tourists in December, leading to a shootout in which four of the tourists were killed.

Prosecutors say the British Muslims were being directed by Masri, who Yemen says was in contact with the Yemeni kidnappers of the Western tourists.

Saturday's court hearing was adjourned until Tuesday after the judge ordered the prosecution to allow a new lawyer for the four defendants full access to the file and to allow her to meet her clients.

A British Embassy official said Yemeni authorities had denied entry to Fiaz Hussein, brother of one of those on trial, ordering him to fly out of the country again as soon as he arrived. Authorities said Hussein had been carrying a valid Yemeni visa issued by the Yemeni Embassy in London, the official said.

No Yemeni officials were immediately available for comment.

Copyright 1999 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.

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