US embassy cable - 04AMMAN7960

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 AMMAN 007960 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PTER, ASEC, JO 
SUBJECT: STATE SECURITY COURT RESUMES AFTER SUMMER HIATUS 
 
REF: A. AMMAN 7733 
 
     B. AMMAN 3303 
     C. AMMAN 6212 
     D. AMMAN 3352 
 
 (U)  Summary.  The State Security Court resumed work this 
month, opening two new trials of suspected terrorist 
plotters.  The tribunal indicted a Jordanian for raising 
funds to support Zarqawi-organized operations in Jordan and 
Iraq.  Separately, the court charged two Jordanians with 
plotting against foreign diplomats in Amman.  Several 
outstanding cases in the works before the summer recess 
remain on hold, and Jordanians are still waiting for the 
trial to begin for several Zarqawi affiliates arrested 
earlier this year for an elaborate plot to bomb the U.S. 
embassy and GOJ targets.  End Summary. 
 
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TWO ACCUSED OF PLOTTING AGAINST DIPLOMATS IN AMMAN 
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2.  (U)  The State Security Court on September 16 indicted 
two Jordanians with jihadist leanings, charging that they 
plotted to attack foreign diplomats in Amman.  The 
prosecutors say Khalid Abd al-Rahman Muhammad Jubran, a 
20-year-old University of Jordan student, and Abd al-Hamid 
Izzat Mahmud Yasin, 31-year-old gift shop employee, first met 
in the Murad mosque in Sweilah, an Amman suburb, and agreed 
in March 2004 to attack foreign diplomats as retaliation for 
their countries' "objectionable" policies.  Yasin allegedly 
collected copies of diplomats' tax exemption cards at his 
place of employment as a prelude to 
carrying out the attacks.  They discussed purchasing machine 
guns at a later time, but security forces arrested them on 
May 31 before they were able to do so.  There is no 
information to indicate that the two men were affiliated with 
any group.  Both men denied the charges (ref A). 
 
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ALLEGED ZARQAWI AFFILIATE DENIES CHARGES 
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3.  (U)  The court also on September 16 heard charges against 
Bilal Mansur al-Hiyari, 34, who the prosecution accuses of 
sending funds to Jordanian fugitive Abu Musab al-Zarqawi for 
operations in Iraq and Jordan.  According to the indictment, 
Hiyari met with Zarqawi in Afghanistan where they developed a 
close friendship.  Upon returning to Jordan, 'Umar Yusuf al- 
Jum'ah (aka Abu Anas al-Shami), allegedly Zarqawi's spiritual 
mentor, in March 2003 asked Bilal to travel to Iraq to 
participate in the fight against U.S. forces there.  (Note: 
Press reports indicate that Abu Anas was killed in a U.S. 
raid in Iraq on September 17.)  Hiyari met with Zarqawi in 
Iraq in July 2003 and agreed to Zarqawi's proposal of 
supporting military operations in Jordan.  Hiyari then 
returned to Jordan to raise funds on Zarqawi's behalf.  The 
prosecution said Hiyari (through an Iraqi intermediary) paid 
$3,000 in August 2003 for a car to support Zarqawi's military 
operations and arranged to send it to Iraq.  In 2004, Zarqawi 
sent a courier to pick up funds from Hiyari, but the 
transaction was foiled as Hiyari was arrested. 
 
4.  (U)  During a court appearance on September 19, Hiyari 
denied links to Zarqawi and pleaded not guilty to the 
charges.  He told the court that he would never engage in 
activities that could "harm the country's security, and I 
have never been affiliated with any party or group, whether 
Islamic or non-Islamic, licensed or unlicensed," according 
to press reports.  Hiyari's brothers testified on September 
19 to Hiyari's claim that he had been tortured while in 
detention. 
 
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COMMENT 
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5.  (U)  These new indictments add to the pile of 
terrorism-related cases currently pending in the State 
Security Court.  Several high profile cases are awaiting 
verdicts, including that of Maan-based extremist Muhammad 
Ahmad al-Shalabi (aka Abu Sayyaf) who is accused (along with 
12 other men) of planning anti-U.S. attacks (ref B).  The 
retrial of Muammar Ahmad Yusef al-Jaghbir, convicted along 
with Zarqawi in absentia for the assassination of USAID 
official Laurence Foley in Amman (and extradited from Iraq 
earlier this year) is also expected to begin this fall (ref 
C).  Meanwhile, no date has been set for the opening trial of 
several Zarqawi operatives arrested earlier this year for 
plotting to bomb the U.S. embassy in Amman, the General 
Intelligence Department headquarters, and the Prime Ministry 
(ref D).  Given the media attention and the seriousness of 
the plot, we expect the trial to be closely watched as the 
government seeks to make an example of the accused 
subversives. 
 
6.  (U)  Baghdad minimize considered. 
 
Visit Embassy Amman's classified website at 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/amman/ or access the site 
through the State Department's SIPRNET home page. 
HALE