Dubai: A woman dubbed "Lady al Qaeda" for
being the first female in Saudi Arabia who underwent trial
for involvement in terrorist activists has been sentenced to
15 years in prison by a court in the kingdom.
A special criminal court in Riyadh yesterday sentenced
37-year-old Haila Al-Qaseer after she was convicted of taking
part in various terrorist activities, Arab news reported.
The court also banned her from travelling abroad for 15
years after her release.
The court found her guilty of declaring the state as
infidel, giving refuge to wanted terrorists, instigating
people to carry out terrorist attacks, and possessing two guns
without license and handing them over to terrorists to attack
security officers, the newspaper said.
Al-Qaseer was also accused of financing terrorist
operations and collecting more than 1 million riyals (USD
267,000) for the purpose. She had sent the amount to al Qaeda
operatives in Yemen. She had also contacted al-Qaeda members
in Yemen and Afghanistan.
The woman was also convicted of helping issue forged IDs
to people seeking to join the insurgency in Iraq.
The Saudi national has one month to appeal the ruling, a
source said.
The woman had denied the charges, claiming she had been
held captive by two men to whom she had been married in the
past and who were members of al Qaeda.
PTI
First Published: Sunday, October 30, 2011, 11:53