Ahmad Abdullah Saudi Gazette JEDDAH – The Special Penal Court in Riyadh announced Tuesday the closing of litigation in terror charges against the Abqaiq cell, which was accused of plotting terrorist operations in the Kingdom.The cell, which received its name after it targeted a laboratory at an oil refinery in Abqaiq in the Eastern Province, comprised 16 Saudis and a Yemeni. The decision came after the Court of Appeals in Riyadh repealed preliminary verdicts issued against the 17 defendants and closed the door for further litigation in the case. The Appeals Court had given the ruling after hearing arguments by the public prosecutor as well as the defendants. A final verdict will be issued next week.Among the charges leveled against the defendants were formation of a terrorist cell linked to Al-Qaeda, embracing Al-Qaeda's ideology, plotting terrorist operations targeting oil installations in the Kingdom and preparing to carry them out on the orders of Al-Qaeda commander Ayman Al-Zawahiri, and attempts to assassinate prominent Saudi personalities to disturb public order. The defendants were also accused of the assassination bid on a prominent Saudi Shiite leader at the behest of an Al-Qaeda operative in a neighboring country with the aim of inciting sectarian unrest in the Kingdom.
