Yemeni court sentences 2 al-Qaida members to death

[July 07, 2010]  SAN'A, Yemen (AP) -- A Yemeni court has convicted two al-Qaida militants for killing senior police and army officers and sentenced them to death.

Wednesday's swift trial was held in the capital San'a and took place without attorneys for the defendants.

Dressed in blue jumpsuits, 23-year-old Mubarak el-Shabawni and 18-year-old Mansour Salem denounced the verdict and shouted 'God is Great' afterwards.

Arrested in December, the two militants were convicted for carrying out attacks in 2009, including one that claimed the lives of top Yemeni intelligence officials in the south.

Yemen, the ancestral homeland of Osama bin Laden, has strong al-Qaida presence, which the government has struggled to confront.

[Associated Press]

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