Sanaa - A Yemeni court on Sunday put on trial a group of 10 Shi'ite alleged rebels accused of belonging to an armed gang and plotting a series of bombings in the capital.

The group is accused of conspiring to carry out "terrorist" attacks and killing a number of police officers in May 2008 on the outskirts of Sanaa.

The defendants denied the charges and instead demanded that Yemen's President Ali Abdullah Saleh be tried for destroying their homes and burning their fields.

"Death to America, death to Israel and victory to Islam," they shouted from the dock.

According to the charges, "they were planning to carry out operations of murder, bombings and destruction".

The prosecution urged the death sentence for all 10, and the judge adjourned the trial until April 24.

More than 50 people were killed last May in clashes between security forces and Shi'ite rebels after 18 people, mostly soldiers, were killed by a blast at a mosque in the rebels' Saada stronghold.