JEDDAH - Fifty men suspected of links to al-Qaida have gone on trial in Saudi Arabia on charges of killing an American and attacking foreign housing compounds in the capital and in the Eastern Province, the official Saudi Press Agency (SPA) said.
The report said five of the suspects had appeared at a special court in the capital Riyadh on Saturday, facing charges including the 2003 bombing of the al-Muhaya compound, where expatriates lived, and planning attacks on the US and British embassies in Saudi Arabia.Of the defendants, 47 are Saudi, two are Syrian and one is Yemeni, SPA said late on Saturday.
Saudi Arabia saw a militant insurgency from 2003 to 2006 in which al-Qaida members staged attacks on residential compounds for foreign workers and Saudi government facilities, killing dozens.
