Kuwaiti court sentences four Al-Qaeda-linked militants to death

dpa German Press Agency
Published: Monday November 13, 2006

Kuwait City/Cairo- A Kuwaiti cassation court upheld the death sentences of four militants with links to Al-Qaeda terrorist network, and whose group was involved in deadly clashes with the police last year, the pan-Arab TV channel Al-Arabiya reported Monday. The group of militants had initially received death penalties in December last year, along with two others. After the appeal, whose result was announced in court Monday, the sentences of four were approved but two had their verdicts changed from death to life.

The six Kuwaiti militants were part of a group of 37 Islamists, called the Peninsula Lions Brigade, on trial since May 2005 and who face charges of terrorism, including stirring violent clashes with police.

The group, 10 of them tried in absentia, faced charges of murder of Kuwaiti policemen, staging a plot to launch attacks on Western troops stationed in Kuwait, belonging to an outlawed network and various weapons violations.

The group allegedly had ties with a Saudi branch of al-Qaeda and an Iraq-based terror network, according to testimonies and court papers.

© 2006 dpa German Press Agency