BAHRAIN TERROR SUSPECTS MAY FACE LIFE IN JAIL Gulf News

BAHRAIN TERROR SUSPECTS MAY FACE LIFE IN JAIL
Gulf News - July 16, 2004

By: Mohammad Almezel

The six suspects detained in Bahrain on Wednesday for allegedly planning a series of terrorist attacks could face life sentence in jail if convicted, according to the General Prosecution chargessheet.

A lawyer representing one of the accused said the suspects were also suspected of having links with militants in Bosnia, Chechnya, and Afghanistan as well as groups that fights Americans in Iraq.

Seven men - Bassam Bu Khuwa, Bassam Al Ali, Mohieddine Khan and his brother Ali, Yasser Kamal and his brother Omar, and Mohammad Saleh are charged with plotting a series of attacks against "government, economic and tourism establishments" that are aimed at "spreading chaos and terror among the citizens and putting the national economy and foreign investments at risk."

Only six men are in custody of the prosecutor, who ordered their detention for 45 days, lawyer Fareed Al Gazi told reporters early yesterday. The six suspects were brought to the General Prosecution's office late Wednesday under tight security.

The seventh suspect, Ali Khan, who holds a dual Bahraini-British nationality, is in the UK currently. An official said Bahrain may either request his extradition or ask for his trial in Britain.

Six of them had been detained briefly last month on similar charges. They were released then due to the lack of sufficient evidence.

But computers seized from their houses by the police last month were found to contain "special documents on how to make, obtain, and use explosives and chemicals," a statement issued by the Ministry of Interior said.

It said the computers also "showed clearly that the suspects have (already) determined the sites (they were planning to attack) and photographed them."

"Evidence also indicated the suspects' intention to carry out the acts whenever the opportunity arises," the statement said.

Two charges - conspiring to carry out terror activities and inciting terrorism - carry the maximum life in jail sentence, according to article 157 of the penal code, Al Gazi said.

He said his client, Mohieddine Khan, has been charged with possession of computer discs that contained instructions of making bombs and using them. He said his client admitted that he had been trained in Afghanistan on using weapons.

"But so have other Arab fighters during the Soviet invasion of that country," Al Gazi quoted his client as saying.

Al Gazi said the prosecutor also charged the group with having links to an unknown militant group called 'Al Hamdulillah', whose members are said to be fighting in Bosnia, Afgha-nistan, Chechnya and Iraq.

The lawyer for the other five, Abdullah Hashim, told a press conference early yesterday that his clients have all denied the charges. "I requested that they be released immediately because there is no sufficient evidence to support the charges," he said. He claimed the computers contained only "personal information."

He accused the government of "hastily" arresting his clients because it was "under external pressure." He was referring to the US travel advisory which earlier this month warned Americans of "imminent attacks" in Bahrain, which is home to the US Naval Fifth Fleet.

The US Department of Defence also ordered all its military personnel's dependents and non-essential staff to leave the island. More than 900 people were affected by the order, believed to be in connection with the recent surge of terror attacks in neighbouring Saudi Arabia.

Bahrain is linked to Saudi Arabia by a 25km causeway. Westerners fled to Bahrain from Saudi Arabia following an attack in Saudi city of Al Khobar.