SANA, Yemen – A Saudi suspected of being an associate of Osama bin Laden and a Yemeni terrorist were sentenced to death by firing squad yesterday for the bombing of the USS Cole four years ago, the first convictions in the Al Qaeda terror attack that killed 17 American sailors.

The judge ordered four other Yemenis jailed for five to 10 years.

With army snipers on nearby rooftops and armored vehicles and soldiers surrounding the courthouse, Judge Najib al-Qaderi handed down guilty verdicts in an often-delayed trial that saw the five defendants in Yemen’s custody refuse to enter pleas, claiming American interference in the case.

The judge ordered Jamal al-Badawi, a 35-year-old Yemeni, and Saudi-born Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, who is in American custody at an undisclosed location, executed for plotting the attack by two suicide bombers who blew up an explosives-laden boat next to the Cole as it refueled in the Yemeni port of Aden on October 12, 2000.

In reading the verdict, the judge pointed to the prosecution’s statement that Mr. Badawi and Mr. al-Nashiri bought the speedboat the bombers rammed into the Cole.

“This verdict is an American one and unjust,” Mr. al-Badawi yelled from behind the bars of a courtroom cell after Mr. al-Qaderi sentenced him to death. “There are no human rights in the world, except for the Americans. All the Muslims in the world are being used to serve American interests.”

Mr. al-Nashiri, who is believed to have masterminded the Cole attack and also thought to have directed the 1998 bombings at the American embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, was the only defendant not present during the trial.

It was not clear how the verdict would affect Mr. al-Nashiri’s detention. Four American officials attended the sentencing, but refused to comment on the trial.