(IsraelNN.com) A Yemini court on Monday sentenced to death a Muslim for allegedly writing to outgoing Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and offering to spy for Israel. Two other men were sentenced to three and five years in prison.

All three denied the charges, and Bassam al-Haidari, who faces death, yelled after the court decision, “This is an unfair ruling. You have sentenced me without any proof of these accusations.”

The court agreed with charges that al-Haidari e-mailed Prime Minister Olmert, who allegedly replied favorably to an offer to spy for Israel.

“We are the Organization of Islamic Jihad and you are Jews, but you are honest, and we are ready to do anything," he supposedly wrote. Prosecutors testified that the Prime Minister wrote back to al-Haidari, “"We are ready to support you to become an obstacle in the Middle East. We will support you as an agent.”

The three men were arrested last summer for spreading false reports that the Organization of Islamic Jihad group carried out an attack on the United States embassy in Yemen that killed 19 people. Al-Qaeda later took responsibility for the twin bombings.

A Personal Vendetta
Al-Haidari, along with his co-defendants Imad al-Rimi and Ali al-Mahfal, vehemently denied the charges and called the sentence "unfair". For their roles in the various crimes, Al-Mahfal was sentenced to five years in jail; Al-Rimi, three.

"I seek the Almighty's help against you," al-Rimi cried to the sentencing judge.

The charges and evidence against them, the three men said, were fabricated by a security officer in what they claimed was a personal vendetta. They are expected to appeal their sentences.

All three men are in their 20s and declared in an Internet message signed by al-Haidari that the Islamic group prepared 16 bombs to explode at government buildings and embassies. They also supposedly then attempted to extort money from the Saudi Arabian and United Arab Emirates embassies in Sanaa.

After the arrests, Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh said authorities had dismantled an Islamist "terrorist cell" with links to Israeli intelligence. Three others also were arrested but were released for lack of evidence.

The Jewish community in the country consists of 400 Jews, ten of whom arrived in Israel on aliyah on last month.