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Arabia

Frenchman's Killer Gets Death in Yemen, Awlaqi 10 Years

2011-01-18

[An Nahar] A court in Sanaa on Monday sentenced to death a Yemeni accused of killing a Frenchie and handed down a 10-year jail sentence in absentia to radical U.S.-born holy man Anwar al-Awlaqi. Hisham Mohammed Assem, who was given the death penalty by a Sanaa criminal court after being convicted of killing French energy contractor Jacques Spagnolo near Sanaa in October, said in court he will appeal the verdict. The same court sentenced Awlaqi to 10 years in prison for taking part in an gang and incitement to kill foreigners. His relative, Othman al-Awlaqi, was sentenced to eight years on the same charges. Both are on the run and were sentenced in absentia. "This crime (killing Spagnolo) was committed under the incitement of Anwar and Othman al-Awlaqi," the judge said as he read the verdict. The court also accused the three men of "working within a terrorist group." Spagnolo, who worked for energy group OMV, was bumped off at the company's compound in Sanaa on October 6, the same day a British embassy car was targeted by a rocket attack that maimed one person. Assem was overpowered and jugged. At the time, OMV said it saw "no political background for the action taken by the Yemeni security guard" while the defense ministry said Assem had probably acted for personal reasons in what was a criminal matter. However, The infamous However... it stressed that the conclusions were preliminary. Earlier this year U.S. President Barack B.O. Obama's administration authorized the assassination of Awlaqi. In the latest edition of Inspire, the English-language online magazine issued by al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), Anwar al-Awlaqi renewed a call to strike the American government and citizens, SITE monitoring agency reported Sunday. "Both the (U.S.) government and private citizens should be targeted," he wrote in an article. "America and Americans are the imams of kufr (leaders of disbelief) in this day and age."

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Arabia

Awlaqi lawyer denies cleric linked to killing of Frenchie

2010-11-10

[Dawn] A lawyer for radical holy man Anwar al-Awlaqi, accused of incitement to kill foreigners, denied Tuesday the imam was linked to the murder of a Frenchie in Yemen and said his whereabouts are unknown. Awlaqi and his relative, Othman al-Awlaqi, have been charged in absentia with "incitement to kill foreigners and members of security services" -- charges that arose during the trial of Hisham Assem, who allegedly bumped off Jacques Spagnolo, an employee of energy firm OMV, in October. Prosecutors have said that Awlaqi corresponded with Assem for months, encouraging him to kill foreigners. Mohammed al-Saqqaf, a lawyer for both Awlaqi and Othman, told the court on Tuesday that they had no "connection or contact" with Assem, and that he also did not know where Awlaqi was. "No one knows where Anwar al-Awlaqi is because if he revealed his location he would be jugged and thrown in prison without a specific charge," Saqqaf said. The court in Yemen, under mounting US pressure to fight Al-Qaeda after a foiled air cargo bomb plot, on Saturday ordered the arrest by any means of Awlaqi and Othman for alleged links to the terror group. The court has charged them with "incitement to kill foreigners and members of security services." Assem's lawyer also denied that his client had been in touch with Awlaqi. "My client has no links to Al-Qaeda or the other accused Anwar al-Awlaqi, who is a runaway from justice," Nasser Ali Mohammed told the Sanaa court, which specialises in terrorism cases. Eight witnesses testified in court on Tuesday saying they saw Assem fire on Spagnolo but the defendant rejected their testimony. "No, those are lies," he shouted in court. One witness said that "after Assem killed the Frenchie (Spagnolo), he went looking for the manager of OMV, an American national, to kill him. "In the end, one other person -- a Brit described by OMV as an expert who worked at the company's branch office -- was maimed in the October 6 attack Assem allegedly carried out. Judge Mohsen Alwan said the court will further consider the case after the Mohammedan Eid al-Adha celebration due to start on November 16, but did not specify a specific date. Boilerplate follows... Yemen, the ancestral homeland of Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and headquarters of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), has been under intense pressure from Washington to hunt down Awlaqi.

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Arabia

Anwar al-Awlaki charged in Yemen with crimes against foreigners

2010-11-02

Yemen, under pressure to crack down on militants operating there after a foiled bomb plot involving US-bound parcels, began the trial in absentia on Tuesday of the radical US-born preacher, wanted dead or alive by Washington. Anwar al-Awlaki, who has been linked to a failed bombing of a US-bound plane in December 2009 that was claimed by Yemen's al Qaeda wing, is thought to be hiding in southern Yemen. Also on Tuesday, the trial of a Yemeni journalist and al-Qaeda expert was set to continue in Sanaa. Abdulelah Shai is being tried for alleged links to al-Qaeda, including helping to publicise the views of Anwar al-Awlaki. Awlaqi, who holds both Yemeni and US citizenship, and his relative, Othman al-Awlaqi, were both charged in absentia in a Yemeni court with "incitement to kill foreigners and members of security services." The charges arose during the trial of Hisham Mohammed Assem, a Yemeni, who was in the court on Tuesday to face charges of killing French energy contractor Jacques Spagnolo near Sanaa last month. The court action comes as Yemen is in the spotlight after parcel bombs to the United States were traced to the ancestral homeland of al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. The US Treasury has blacklisted Awlaki as a "specially designated global terrorist", a move that freezes any assets he may have under US jurisdiction. Earlier this year, the United States authorised the CIA to capture or kill him. Awlaki has also been linked to an army major who went on a shooting spree that killed 13 people last year at Fort Hood in Texas.

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