Yemen Jails Qaida Man for Plotting General's Murder

A Yemeni court jailed an al-Qaida militant for 15 years on Tuesday on charges of helping plan the murder of the commander of a blistering 2012 offensive against the jihadists.

The state security tribunal found Sami Dayan guilty of "taking part in plotting the assassination of General Salem Ali Qatan, the chief military commander in south Yemen."

Dayan was also convicted of "forming an armed group to carry out terrorist acts," and of attacking military bases.

Co-defendant Farhan Awad al-Saadi was jailed for four years.

A Somali suicide bomber killed Qatan on June 18, 2012 as he headed to his office in the southern port city of Aden.

The assailant detonated his explosives after throwing himself on Qatan's car. A medic related to Qatan said the attacker shook hands with the general before blowing him up.

The attack followed a string of defeats inflicted on al-Qaida by troops under Qatan's command.

The jihadists were expelled from a series of southern towns east of Aden which they had captured during 2011.