| The three accused who appeared
at the first hearing on January 13 were joined by two more, Abdullah Muhsin Salih
al-Junaidi ("Abu Hadhifa") and Hussein Muhammad Salih ("Abu Huraira"),
a Tunisian. Judge Najib al-Qadiri warned the
defendant Abu al-Hassan more than once about speaking without permission of the court, and
threatened to have him removed.
Abdullah Muhsin Salih al-Junaidi ("Abu
Hadhifa")
Junaidi admitted kidnapping the foreigners
tourists but
denied killing them, saying that he was not carrying a weapon, and if he had been, if
would have been to fight the security forces.
He told the court: "I took part in the kidnapping
when Abu al-Hassan came to me and asked me to participate. We held up the hostages in the
area (Lahmar) the we took them and handed them over to the commander, Abu al-Hassan, who
had the right of disposal."
He could not say precisely when he joined the Islamic
Army; when he met one of the commanders of Jihad [indicating Abu al-Hassan] he could not
refuse.
Hussein Muhammad Salih ("Abu
Huraira")
Abu Huraira told the court: "I was not a participant
in the kidnapping, either in thought or deed."
His role was as a translator. He had not known about the
plan until the morning of the kidnapping. He had not carried any weapons. |