A special court in Riyadh on Tuesday continued the trial of 153 individuals accused of terrorism charges. Six alleged members of the “Al-Khalidiya cell” and nine members of “Al-Juwayir cell” were present at the hearing. Charges leveled against them included joining a terrorist outfit affiliated with the Al-Qaedea network, providing shelter to terrorists, aiding and abetting criminals, possession of weapons and explosives in addition to a host of other charges. One of the accused, who took professional diving lessons, was involved with a group of individuals in an operation targeting ships in the Arabian Gulf. The accused with his accomplices was conspiring to plant explosives underneath ships. The man was accused of paying the fees of diving courses for his partners so they could help him in the operations he was planning to carry out. The prosecutor accused him of spying and said his actions were tantamount to treason. Charges against another defendant ranged from providing hideouts to terrorists to possessing machine guns and grenades with the intent to use them to disturb the public peace. He was also accused of guarding the hideout of the terrorists. The court charged defendant No. 29 with supporting the Al-Qaeda by distributing pamphlets. He was also accused of transporting rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs) and machine guns from a warehouse in Riyadh and delivering them to members of the network. Defendant No. 54 was charged with forging official IDs. He was also accused of buying a car and cell phones for terrorists. He also warned them of security checkpoints while driving in front of them. __
