Yemen jails Britons over violence plan

Aden - A Yemeni court on Monday convicted 10 Islamists, including eight Britons, of forming an armed gang to carry out "terrorist…

Aden - A Yemeni court on Monday convicted 10 Islamists, including eight Britons, of forming an armed gang to carry out "terrorist" acts in the Arab state and jailed seven of them for three to seven years.

Judge Jamal Mohammad Omar also released three Britons on time served following a controversial and often chaotic trial in this southern port city.

The casually dressed defendants, who had grown beards in their eight months in captivity, shouted "Allah Akhbar" (God is Greatest) when their sentences were read out before a well-guarded court.

The families of the Britons criticised the decision as politically motivated and unfair and called on the British government to do all it could to ensure the sentences were commuted and the men returned to Britain.