Yemeni court charges 35 suspects over oil attacks

SANAA, Mar 4 (Reuters) A Yemeni court today charged 35 suspected members of an al Qaeda-linked group with taking part in foiled suicide attacks on oil and gas installations in the Arab country last year.

Prosecutors accused the men, six of whom were charged in absentia, of ''forming an armed gang aimed at carrying out sabotage attacks'' and involvement in the attacks on the installations in the Marib and Hadaramout provinces.

Yemen foiled the two suicide attacks on September 15, days after al Qaeda urged Muslims to target Western interests, especially oil installations.

Four bombers were killed when Yemeni security forces blew up four rigged cars before they reached their targets. A guard working for an oil firm was killed. There was no damage to the state-owned facilities.

The suspects pleaded not guilty to the charges and the judge adjourned the trial for two weeks to give defence lawyers time to prepare their case.

Six of the suspects said they were tortured in custody and forced to sign confessions.

Four of them wept. One said he had lost hearing in one ear, and another said he had been raped.

The court ordered a doctor to check the allegations.

Al Qaeda's wing in Yemen claimed responsibility for the attacks and vowed more strikes in the Arab state.

Yemen said it had broken up the al Qaeda-linked cell and seized explosives the group was planning to use in attacks on the capital Sanaa.

Yemen, a minor oil producer, is the ancestral home of al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. It joined the US-led war on terrorism launched after the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States in 2001 and has been battling Islamic militants for years.

The attacks were the first on oil facilities in Yemen since the 2002 bombing of the French oil supertanker Limburg off its coast. In 2000, a suicide attack on the US warship Cole killed 17 US sailors.

Yemen, on the southern tip of the Arabian Peninsula, has been widely seen in the West as a haven for Muslim militants, including al Qaeda supporters.

REUTERS SP BST2254