US embassy cable - 05AMMAN4487

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 AMMAN 004487 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PTER, ASEC, PHUM, JO 
SUBJECT: JORDAN: TERRORISM SUSPECTS THREATEN COURT 
OFFICIALS, PRAISE BIN LADIN, ZARQAWI 
 
REF: A. AMMAN 2889 
     B. AMMAN 2094 
 
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SUMMARY 
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1.  (U)  Several high-profile, emotionally-charged terrorism 
trials are continuing in Jordan's State Security Court.  Azmi 
Jayusi, the reputed cell leader in a Zarqawi plot to bomb the 
Jordanian Prime Ministry, intelligence headquarters, and U.S. 
Embassy in Amman last year, threatened the judge and 
prosecutor with beheading; he was thrown out of the courtroom 
for disorderly conduct.  Separately, Abed Shihadeh al-Tahawi, 
who allegedly led a group of 15 extremists in plotting 
against foreign and Jordanian targets last year, praised Bin 
Ladin and Zarqawi during a recent court appearance.  The 
defendants in the case also retracted earlier confessions, 
alleging they were extracted under duress.  The judge has 
given the attorney for Muammar Jaghbir, accused in the 
assassination of USAID official Laurence Foley, until early 
June to prepare his case.  Meanwhile, three new terrorism 
cases entered the court system, including one involving 
extremists who allegedly planned attacks against tourists in 
the Red Sea port city of Aqaba and liquor stores in Amman. 
End Summary. 
 
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JAYUSI THREATENS BEHEADINGS IN COURT 
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2.  (U)  The highly charged and heavily guarded trial of 13 
men accused of a Zarqawi-inspired plot to bomb the U.S. 
Embassy, the Jordanian General Intelligence Directorate 
(GID), and the Prime Ministry in Amman in April 2004, 
continued in May as their reputed cell leader -- Azmi Jayusi 
-- threatened court officials with beheading.  Zarqawi and 
three others are being tried in absentia in the case (ref A). 
 During a recent court appearance, Jayusi shouted from his 
cage in the courtroom: "I swear by God that we will cut your 
heads off and that of (prosecutor) Mahmoud Obeidat!"  Jayusi 
then pitched his slipper at the tribunal, a sign of special 
scorn in Arab culture.  As Judge Bqour ordered the court 
stenographer to register the slipper slinging, Jayusi 
attempted to throw his second piece of footwear.  When his 
attorney, Samih Khreis, tried to calm him down, Jayusi 
shouted that his services were no longer needed.  Despite 
Khreis' subsequent request to the judge to be removed from 
the case, the Judge ordered that he remain "to ensure justice 
for the defendants." 
 
3.  (U)  The theatrics did not stop there.  In response to 
testimony by Momen Hadidi, head of the National Institute of 
Forensic Medicine, about the results of autopsies carried out 
on four alleged cell members who died in an Amman shoot-out 
with police in April 2004, defendant Ahmad Abdul Fatah 
screamed: "I swear by God that the blood of our dead brothers 
will not go in vain!  They are in heaven and you will go to 
hell!"  When Jayusi disrupted the session again by saying he 
wanted to list the reasons why he targeted the GID 
headquarters, the judge ordered the guards to escort Jayusi 
out of the courtroom, angering the rest of the defendants. 
Two others were later expelled from the courtroom for 
disruptive behavior. 
 
4.  (U)  Against this backdrop, the prosecution continued to 
call several witnesses, including GID explosives expert Major 
Ra'ed Abu Ruman, who told the court that he had examined and 
tested the chemical substances, detonators, fuses, and 
electrical cords seized by authorities and concluded that 
"using these explosives to spread deadly chemical substances 
is one of the methods applied by armies."  In earlier court 
sessions, the security official who had arrested defendant 
Mohammad Salameh said that Salameh was carrying a Syrian 
passport into which Jayusi's picture had been 
photo-substituted, a cell phone, and 5,000 euros.  The 
official testified that Salameh planned to deliver the items 
from Zarqawi to Jayusi.  The prosecution also called a police 
captain who said he had examined weapons in the cell members' 
possession; two other officers who had participated in a raid 
of a warehouse testified that they had seized vehicles, 
chemicals and other equipment being used to fabricate the 
vehicle bombs.  A GID officer told the court that he found 
training material on computers belonging to Jayusi, 
describing the manufacture of explosives and poisonous 
substances, as well as "ways to use heavy weapons and other 
materials to destroy buildings, airports, railways and 
telephone and electricity institutions." 
 
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TAHAWI PRAISES ZARQAWI, BIN LADIN IN COURT 
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5.  (U)  Separately, the cell leader of a group of 15 local 
extremists charged with plotting to attack foreigners in 
Jordan, a local journalist, and GID officials (ref A), voiced 
support for Zarqawi and Bin Ladin during a recent court 
appearance on May 24.  Abed Shihadeh Tahawi declared that 
"although they accuse them of being terrorists, the heroes 
Osama Bin Ladin and Abu Musab al-Zarqawi will come back to 
the scene soon to set up an Islamic caliphate state."  Tahawi 
and his followers hail from the northern Jordanian town of 
Irbid.  Despite their takfiri leanings, Jordanian officials 
have not linked them to any formal terrorist group. 
 
6.  (U)  In a previous court session, all 15 in custody (one 
is being tried in absentia) retracted their earlier 
confessions, claiming they were extracted under torture and 
duress.  At their opening trial in January, they had refused 
to enter a plea (which the court interpreted as a "not 
guilty" plea) and refused to call witnesses on their behalf. 
The only exception was their request to call the prosecutor 
Mahmoud Obeidat to the stand, which was rejected by the 
court.  The court adjourned until early June when it is 
scheduled to hear the defense's closing statements. 
 
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SUSPECT IN FOLEY ASSASSINATION REAPPEARS IN COURT 
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7.  (U)  During a court session on May 24, the security court 
decided to postpone until June 6 the trial of Muammar 
Jaghbir, who is accused of plotting with Zarqawi the 
assassination of USAID official Laurence Foley.  According to 
the charge sheet, Zarqawi gave Jaghbir $44,000 to finance 
Foley's assassination.  Jaghbir is also charged with 
involvement in the 2003 bombing of the Jordanian embassy in 
Baghdad (ref A).  Judge Bqour said the court postponed the 
session to allow the defendant's court-appointed lawyer, 
Fathi Daradkeh, to review the two cases. 
 
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MORE TORTURE ALLEGATIONS 
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8.  (U)  A defense witness in the ongoing case of four local 
extremists charged with planning subversive acts against the 
GID told the court that he saw evidence of torture on the 
bodies of the defendants (ref B).  The witness, Miqdad 
al-Dabbas, was convicted in February of plotting with Zarqawi 
to attack Jordanian interests in Baghdad.  The defendants had 
retracted their confessions in an earlier session claiming 
they were extracted under torture. 
 
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ZARQAWI, TWO OTHERS INDICTED IN KARAMEH INCIDENT 
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9.  (U)  The State Security Court on June 1 indicted three 
men for plotting a suicide attack on tanker trucks crossing 
into Jordan from Iraq at the Karameh border crossing in 
December 2004.  Zarqawi and Thirar Abu Odeh are being tried 
in absentia, while Saudi national Fahd Fuheiki, 24, is in 
Jordanian custody.  The charge sheet accuses them of 
transporting and possessing explosive and plotting subversive 
acts.  Court-appointed attorney Yousef Udwan will represent 
Fuheiki, who the prosecution says studied at a Saudi 
university where he met several people who embraced takfiri 
ideology.  According to the charges, Fuheiki and some other 
men infiltrated into Iraq from the Saudi border.  In Iraq, 
they allegedly met Abu Odeh and others who encouraged them to 
join the "resistance."  The group trained on several weapons 
and were indoctrinated in jihad and martyrdom.  "Abu Odeh 
informed Fuheiki that suicide attacks were the best jihad 
method and the defendant decided to join the suicide 
attackers' team," the charge sheet added.  Prosecutors 
alleged that the group decided to target oil tankers and 
other trucks crossing at Karameh, and that Zarqawi instructed 
the men to launch suicide attacks using cars laden with 
explosives.  Accordingly, Fuheiki reportedly crossed the 
border in a car laden with explosives on December 3, 2004 
with the intention of exploding next to several tankers. 
"Technical problems" prevented him for completing his mission 
and he was arrested shortly afterwards by authorities who 
discovered the explosives while searching his car, according 
to the charge sheet. 
 
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PLOTS AGAINST AQABA, LIQUOR STORES 
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10.  (U)  The State Security Court in May opened the trial of 
four men accused of plotting to attack tourists in the Red 
Sea port town of Aqaba, as well as liquor stores in Amman. 
The prosecution says the four planned to travel to Iraq to 
join the insurgency in December 2004, but later changed their 
minds due to the "bad situation" there.  Instead they opted 
in January 2005 to target foreigners in Aqaba and liquor 
stores in Amman and obtained a machine-gun and pistols.  The 
men allegedly approached two liquor stores on January 2 with 
the intention of tying up the stores' owners, threatening 
them with weapons and destroying their shops, but aborted 
their plan due to security in the area.  As they approached a 
third store, the men were arrested by a security patrol that 
was suspicious of their motives. 
 
11.  (U)  In a separate trial, a 26-year-old Jordanian, 
Mohammad Yassin, pleaded not guilty on June 1 to charges that 
he attempted to blow up an Aqaba police station.  The charge 
sheet says that Yassin went to the station on January 5 and 
shouted, "By God I will launch a suicide attack.  I will bomb 
this place."  Prosecutors claim that he then went to a nearby 
shop, took a gas cylinder and returned to the police station. 
 After climbing over a wall to the officers' living quarters, 
he set the cylinder on fire and fled.  It was extinguished 
before it exploded, however.  The charge sheet did not give 
any reason behind Yassin's motives, according to press 
reports. 
 
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TWO INDICTED FOR PLOTTING AGAINST ISRAELIS 
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12.  (U)  Two Jordanians pleaded not guilty in May to charges 
that they had plotted subversive acts against Israelis they 
believed were present at al-Hassan Industrial Estate. 
According to the prosecution, the two 27-year-old defendants, 
and a third being tried in absentia, formed a "jihad group" 
and decided to collect money to buy machine guns for their 
plans.  They were arrested in February 2005 before carrying 
out any of their alleged attacks. 
 
Please visit Embassy Amman's classified web site at 
http://www.state.sgov/p/nea/amman/ or access the site through 
the Department of State's SIPRNET home page. 
HALE