US embassy cable - 05AMMAN7438

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 AMMAN 007438 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PTER, ASEC, PHUM, IZ, JO 
SUBJECT: TERRORISM TRIALS UPDATE 
 
REF: A. 04 AMMAN 10304 B. AMMAN 4487 C. 04 AMMAN 9243 
 
1. (U) SUMMARY: Jordan,s State Security Court (SSC) began 
new proceedings against a group of 17 charged with planning 
to attack Americans in Amman and Jordanian intelligence 
officers.  Meanwhile, the defense attorney for one of nine 
defendants on trial for plotting the April 2004 attempted 
chemical attack in Amman asked the court to summon several 
GOJ officials as witnesses.  The defense attorney for a group 
of eight militants reportedly linked to PIJ and indicted in 
June for planning attacks against foreigners in Jordan 
petitioned the SSC to acquit his clients for lack of 
evidence.  Twelve militants were sentenced for plotting 
attacks against the US and Israeli embassies in 2004.  The 
verdict against Ahmad al-Riyati, already convicted for 
plotting attacks against Jordanian security forces and US and 
Israeli interests in Jordan, was upheld.  END SUMMARY. 
 
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SNIPER PLOT: 17 SUSPECTS CHARGED WITH PLANNING ASSASSINATIONS 
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2.  (U)  In early September 2005, the SSC charged 17 suspects 
with plotting to carry out terrorist acts in Jordan.  The 
charge sheet indicates that the group was plotting to 
assassinate a number of Americans working in Jordan and 
Jordanian intelligence officers with a silencer-equipped 
sniper rifle.  Media reports claim that interrogation of the 
suspects revealed that six are linked to Zarqawi,s al-Qaida 
network in Iraq, while the others have ties to a Saudi group 
known as the Brigades of the Holy Shrines. 
 
3.  (U)  The suspects, who were arrested in different 
locations of West Amman, include:  Mu,tasim Muhammad Jamal 
Mustafa Sulayman; Ziyad Ibrahim Ali al-Nasur; Ali Talib 
Abu-Ras; Muhammad Ahmad Sa,id al-Bawwab; Ma,mun Kamal 
Ibrahim Khadir; Lu,ay Samir Mahmud Abu-Na,imah; 
Abd-al-Karim Taha Yusuf Samarah; Ahmad Mahmud Hirzallah; 
Mahmud Muhammad Alayyan Khadir; Bashar Ziyad Muhammad Aziz 
Abu-Rassa; Muhammad Rafiq Muhammad Hassan; Muhammad Umar 
Muhammad Adib al-Zu,bi; Ammar Yusuf Nimr Zaqzuq; Mufid Zaki 
Muhammad Sha,ban; Abdallah Wahid Ali Yamak; and Ibrahim 
Anwar Ibrahim Nayif. 
 
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DEFENSE IN CHEMICAL ATTACK CASE WANTS GOJ OFFICIALS AS 
WITNESSES 
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4.  (U)  On September 7 the defense attorney for Azmi 
Jaiousi, one of nine defendants on trial for plotting the 
attempted April 2004 chemical attack in Amman, asked the 
court to summon a former General Intelligence Department 
director, a serving intelligence officer, and an SSC 
prosecutor general as witnesses.  The SSC said it would 
respond to the defense request when the trial resumes, but 
did not set a date. 
 
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DEFENSE FOR PIJ AFFILIATES ASKS FOR ACQUITTAL 
-------------------------------------------- 
 
5.  (U)  The lawyer for a group of seven suspects standing 
trial for plotting subversive acts against tourists urged the 
SSC on 24 August to acquit his clients for lack of evidence, 
claiming that the prosecution did not present any proof other 
than the suspects, confessions.  The men, who authorities 
claim are affiliated with the Palestinian Islamic Jihad 
(PIJ), claim that their confessions had been extracted under 
torture.  The court adjourned the trial and deferred the case 
documents for further review and examination.  A new hearing 
date was not set. 
 
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AL-TAHAWI GROUP:  COURT SENTENCES 12 FOR PLOT AGAINST 
AMERICAN AND ISRAELI EMBASSIES 
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6.  (U)  On September 11 the SSC sentenced twelve Islamist 
militants to prison terms ranging from one and a half to 
three year prison terms, falling short of the maximum 
penalties -- death or 15 years of hard labor--, for plotting 
terrorist strikes against the U.S. and Israeli embassies in 
Jordan.  The SSC also accused the group of plotting to attack 
the residence of the Israeli Ambassador in Amman, and Jewish 
businessmen visiting northern Jordan. During their 
sentencing, the twelve defendants, who did not enter pleas, 
hailed the September 11 al-Qaida attacks on the US.   The 
group's leader, Abed Shihadeh al Tahawi, was sentenced to 
three years for leading and planning the conspiracy, raising 
funds, recruiting militants, and sending men for training in 
Yemen and Iraq.  Al-Tahawi allegedly recruited his 
accomplices while preaching in mosques in Irbid, 50 miles 
north of Amman. 
 
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AL-RIYATI,S GUILTY VERDICT UPHELD 
--------------------------------- 
 
7.  (U)  On Sunday 11 September the SSC upheld its June 2004 
guilty verdict against Jordanian Ahmad Mahmoud al-Riyati, 
nine months after an appeals court asked for a retrial citing 
"technical faults".  Al-Riyati, arrested by US troops in 
Iraqi Kurdistan in March 2003 and subsequently extradited to 
Jordan, was originally convicted for plotting attacks against 
Jordanian security forces and US and Israeli interests in 
Jordan. Al-Riyati is serving a seven and one half year 
sentence. 
HALE