The long-awaited trial of six suspects involved in the suicide attack on the USS Cole began this week in Sana'a, Yemen's capital, reports Peter Willems Along with planning to bomb the destroyer USS Cole, the defendants were also charged with being members of Osama Bin Laden's Al-Qaeda network, forming an armed group and carrying out other criminal acts. The USS Cole was attacked in October 2000 as it was refueling in the port of Aden. Two men attacked the destroyer in a dinghy loaded with 500 pounds of explosives killing 17 US sailors and wounding 33 others. One of the key suspects, Abdul-Rahim Al-Nashiri, is being held by the United States at an undisclosed location and was charged in absentia. He is believed to be the mastermind behind the attack and a close associate of Osama Bin Laden. Al-Nashiri was arrested in the United Arab Emirates in 2002 and handed over to US officials. He is also believed to be connected to the 1998 bombings of US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. The Yemeni government has asked the US to extradite Al-Nashiri, but US officials have said that he will probably go to trial in the US. Two of the five other suspects were in the courtroom: Jamal Al- Badawi, who is believed to have taken instructions from Al-Nashiri for the bombing, and Fahd Al-Qusaa, who is suspected of buying the dinghy and bringing a video camera to film the attack. Both were arrested a second time last March after they escaped from a Yemeni jail in 2003. The first day of the hearing was held amid tight security; Yemeni security guards surrounded the court and marksmen were placed on top of buildings nearby. The trial for those involved in the bombing of the Cole was adjourned until 14 July in order to provide the US government with more time to collect evidence. US representatives from the Justice Department and the FBI attended the hearing. The suspects could face up to 15 years in prison or the death penalty. Both have been permitted to appoint two lawyers to represent them. Yemen has been criticised for detaining suspects without being charged or bringing them to trial since the country joined the US-led "war on terror" after the 9/11 attacks in America. The trial of the Cole suspects is expected to quell these allegations. According to the Ministry of the Interior, up to 250 terrorist suspects have been released after going through an "education" process run by the Dialogue Committee which focuses on peace and tolerance in Islam. Also under way in Sana'a is the trial of 15 terrorist suspects involved in the bombing of the French tanker Limburg off the coast of Yemen in 2002. The suspects are also charged with planning to kill the US ambassador to Yemen and attack a number of other embassies. The trial started while clashes between Yemeni forces and armed Shia militants continued in northern Yemen. Official reports from the Yemeni government say that 179 people have been killed since the fighting began over three weeks ago. Other sources claim that the death toll may have reached as high as 500. The clashes started when Yemeni authorities tried to arrest Hussein Al- Houthi, a leader of the Zaidi Shia sect, but faced armed resistance. Al- Houthi is accused of promoting violent anti-US and anti-Israel protests. He founded a group called the "Believing Youth" and is thought to have secretly formed an armed militia. Soon after the fighting began, Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh sent a delegation to convince Al-Houthi to surrender, but he refused. The government now offers a $55,000 reward to anyone who assists in Al- Houthi's capture. Some Yemeni officials have become critical of the fighting in the Saada province, 240km north of Sana'a, near the Saudi Arabian border. "If there is a militant group that wants to destabilise the country, the parliament supports the government to take the necessary steps," Mansour Zindani, a member of the Yemeni parliament and the Foreign Relations Committee, told Al-Ahram Weekly. "But we question the escalation of the clashes. Perhaps the government could have found different means to deal with the issue." The parliament has sent members of the Military and Security Committee to the Saada province to investigate the fighting. Last week Amnesty International called on the Yemeni government to investigate the killing of civilians caught up in the clashes. In a letter to the minister of the interior, the organisation states that innocent Yemenis are said to have been killed by heavy artillery fire and missile attacks. It cited an incident reported by witnesses that a helicopter gunship attacked civilian targets and a number of people were killed. And some people are also concerned that the government's recent plan to close down some of the hundreds of religious schools in Yemen, many of which are unlicensed and promote extremism, may simply add fuel to the extremists' fire. "It is a sensitive issue, and the government made a mistake by allowing religious schools to function without a license for years, and then suddenly closed them down," said Zindani. "Some of the schools may react and simply go underground."
