One-fourth of a group of men accused of plotting attacks against US bases in Qatar and Kuwait faced a panel of Saudi judges on Saturday, KSA-based Arab News reports.

Charged with targeting Camp As Sayliyah military base in Qatar, the defendants, all in their 20s, included 38 Saudis and one each from Qatar, Yemen and Afghanistan.

Of the nine on the docket yesterday, five are facing the death penalty. The list of charges against them are extensive and include funding/recruiting militants, smuggling weapons and forging identification.

Arab News reports:

The defendants were accused of forming a cell in Saudi Arabia to plan terrorist operations against American forces in Qatar and Kuwait, finance the current fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan, recruit people for Al-Qaeda in Iraq and establish border passes to smuggle arms, funds and fighters to Iraq…

The prosecutor read out the charges against the defendants during the court session. The presiding judge asked the defendants to submit their written answers to the charges against them. He accepted the request by some defendants to appoint lawyers and allowed them enough time to do so. The defendants asked to bring their written answers to the court after the Haj and the judge agreed.

Wow! Thoughts, anyone?