 Jilani says his confession was obtained under duress |
A court in Yemen has jailed six men for planning attacks in the capital Sanaa on the British and Italian embassies and the French cultural centre. They were also convicted of forming an armed gang with links to the militant al-Qaeda network, forging passports, and possessing arms and explosives.
An Iraqi, Anwar al-Jilani, was convicted of leading the group, and sentenced to four years in prison.
Five others received sentences ranging from two years to 40 months.
Two Yemeni defendants were acquitted.
"I swear by the name of Allah that the accusations are false... We will appeal the verdict," Jilani said in court.
He told the court in March that he had planned to strike the UK embassy, but later retracted the statement, saying it was obtained under duress.
The defendants are said to included a Kuwaiti of Iraqi origin and two Syrians.
Yemen has seen a series of attacks by militants linked to al-Qaeda, including the bombing of American naval destroyer USS Cole in Aden in 2000, which killed 17 sailors.
The verdicts came a day after four Iraqis went on trial in Sanaa, accused of planning to attack the American and British embassies in 2003 on the orders of Saddam Hussein's regime.
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