RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s Specialised Criminal Court jailed six people for up to six years for security offences including travelling abroad to fight, adopting militant ideology and “breaking obedience to the ruler”, state media said. The kingdom imprisoned dozens of people last month in security trials amid fears that the conflicts in Iraq and Syria will radicalise a new generation of young Saudis. The six sentenced on Sunday were also banned from travelling for fixed periods after their release. In February, The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud decreed prison terms of three to 20 years for travelling abroad to fight and of five to 30 years for giving moral or material support to banned groups that the government has designated as extremist. These include Al Qaeda, Islamic State, Nusra Front, the Muslim Brotherhood, Hezbollah and Yemen’s Houthi movement. Officials say there are more than 2,500 Saudis now outside the country who are believed to be working with militant organisations.
UAE tries 15 Islamists
ABU DHABI: The trial began in the UAE yesterday of 15 Islamists charged with joining and financing Syria’s Al-Qaeda franchise and a rebel group there, the official WAM news agency said. Eleven of the defendants, whose nationalities were not disclosed, appeared at a first hearing before the Federal Supreme Court in Abu Dhabi, WAM said. It was unclear why the remaining four were not in court. The 15 are accused of “joining and collecting funds for two terrorist groups abroad — Al Nusra Front and Ahrar Al Sham” which are fighting against Syrian President Bashar Al Assad’s regime. Al Nusra is Al Qaeda’s affiliate in Syria, while Ahrar Al Sham is a powerful Islamist rebel group. The defendants are also charged with manufacturing explosives, WAM reported. The next hearing will be on September 23, it added.
UN Syria envoy to visit Damascus
UNITED NATIONS: UN envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura will begin his first visit to Damascus today to try to kick-start peace talks that have twice foundered under the United Nations. De Mistura will travel with Deputy Envoy Ramzy Ezzedine Ramzy for the first round of meetings with Syrian officials, a UN statement said. The Syrian Al Watan newspaper, which is close to the government, reported that the envoys will hold three days of talks on “prospects for a solution” to the conflict that has raged since March 2011.
Agencies
