A Yemeni appeals court on Saturday upheld a death sentence for a man convicted of spying for Israel, DPA reported.
Yemeni national Bassam Abdullah al-Haidari, 27, was sentenced to death by a state security court in March 2009 after the court convicted him of establishing contacts with the office of Israel's former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, offering to work for the Mossad intelligence agency.
The appeals court also confirmed a three-year jail term for another convict in the case, Emad Ali al-Raimi, 24, and lowered the sentence for Ali Abdullah al-Mahfal, 25, from five to three years.
After the ruling was pronounced, the main convict al-Haidari lodged an appeal against it. He has the final chance to challenge to ruling before the Supreme Court.
Prosecutors have told the court that al-Haidari had sent letters by e-mail to the Israeli premier, offering to work for Mossad. They said the defendant received a positive reply from Israeli officials, who allegedly welcomed the offer.
The three men were part of a group of six suspects arrested in October 2009 over alleged links to Mossad. The three others were released before the trial, due to a lack of evidence.
The arrests were made one month after a bombing outside the US embassy in Sana'a, the responsibility for which was later claimed by al-Qaeda.
Officials have said the group sentenced Monday operated under a fake name, the "Islamic Jihad of Yemen," and issued false statements claiming responsibility for the US embassy attack, in which 18 people were killed, including six attackers.