Al-Qaeda funding verdict reversed

A court in the United States has overturned the conviction of a prominent Yemeni cleric and his aide.

Sheikh Mohammed Ali Hassan al-Moayad, and his deputy Mohammed Mohsen Zayed, were jailed for conspiring to support al-Qaeda and Hamas.

The case in 2005 was hailed at the time by the Bush administration as a significant blow to al-Qaeda.

Both men received lengthy prison terms for channelling millions of dollars to Hamas and the al-Qaeda.

But the appeals court in New York said they had not received a fair trial because the jury had been influenced by what it said was inflammatory testimony about unrelated links to terrorism.

The two men were arrested in Germany as part of a sting operation before being extradited to the United States.

The appeals panel sent the case back to the lower court, Federal District Court in Brooklyn, but in a highly unusual step, directed that it be assigned to a different judge.