YEMEN: Six Yemeni-American men yesterday pleaded not guilty to a US government indictment accusing them of supporting the Islamic extremist network al-Qaeda by attending a camp in Afghanistan last year.
The closely watched case, which is a test of the Bush administration's prosecution of terrorism suspects after the September 11th attacks, began five weeks ago with the arrest of the men from Lackawanna, New York, near Buffalo close to the border with Canada.
US prosecutors accused the men of "conspiracy to provide material support and resources to a foreign terrorist organization, al-Qaeda" and a second count of "providing material support" to al-Qaeda.
Lawyers for the men, who are US citizens of Yemeni descent, yesterday entered pleas of not guilty to both counts in federal court in Buffalo. US magistrate Mr Kenneth Schroeder said he would not consider earlier defence motions requesting a dismissal of the charges.
The men sat at tables in the courtroom during a 15-minute hearing, while about two dozen of their relatives and friends from the Yemeni-American community in Lackawanna sat in the public seats.
The magistrate gave defendants' lawyers and prosecutors 30 days to negotiate, discuss or share appropriate information on the indictment. He scheduled the next hearing for November 27th.
Meanwhile, lawyers for five of the defendants who are seeking reversal of Mr Schroeder's decision two weeks ago to deny them bail, await a hearing before a different judge on that issue.
Any trial may not start for a year and, if convicted, the six men, all in their 20s, could face a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison for the conspiracy count and 10 years for the other count.
"I don't believe it will be an overly long process," said Mr William Hochul, the assistant district attorney handling the government's case.
"We'll have a better idea [on a trial date\] next month when the defendants report back on how much time they need to file motions."
Lawyers for the men argued they went to Pakistan to further their education in their Muslim faith and were not members of a "sleeper cell" planning to attack the United States.
The men were charged under the 1996 Anti-Terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act. The law makes it a crime to provide "material support", including "personnel", to groups listed by the government as terrorist organizations.
None of the men is charged with taking part in last year's hijacked plane attacks that killed more than 3,000 people in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania, or any other violent crime.
One of the men, who co-operated with the FBI, was ordered to be released on bail on October 8th but under house confinement with electronic and satellite monitoring. He remains detained along with the others while arrangements are made for his stringent bail conditions.
Meanwhile, the US is preparing to release a small number of the 598 suspected al-Qaeda and Taliban prisoners held at the naval base in Guantanamo, Cuba, US Defence Secretary Mr Donald Rumsfeld said yesterday.
He declined to give details but told reporters the US had determined they were no longer of intelligence value and were not candidates for criminal prosecution. Another senior defence official said the prisoners to be removed from the base included Pakistanis.
It was not clear whether they would be simply released or turned over to their home governments for possible further action. - (Reuters)