UAE security court sentences 6 in plot to smuggle pistols to Yemen rebels

By Associated Press, June 28,

ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates — Court officials in Abu Dhabi say six men have been sentenced to jail terms for trying to smuggle 16,000 pistols to violence-wracked Yemen.

The verdicts come three months after Dubai authorities uncovered the weapons in shipping containers from Turkey and allegedly bound for rebels in northern Yemen. Meanwhile, Yemen’s president, Ali Abdullah Saleh, has faced a growing uprising seeking to end his nearly 33-year rule.

The officials say Tuesday that the State Security Court gave five-year prison terms to five men: two from Oman and three Egyptians. A cargo clearance officer received a three-year sentence.

The Abu Dhabi-based newspaper The National reports five other defendants were acquitted in the Monday court session.