US embassy cable - 05AMMAN9515

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 AMMAN 009515 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PTER, PHUM, ASEC, JO, IZ, SY 
SUBJECT: TERRORISM TRIALS UPDATE 
 
REF: A. TD-314/52765-0 
     B. AMMAN 7438 
     C. AMMAN 8717 
     D. AMMAN 6237 
     E. AMMAN 4487 
     F. AMMAN 9392 
 
1. (U) SUMMARY: Jordan's State Security Court began 
proceedings in four separate cases against groups charged 
with planning to use cyanide to kill bar owners and patrons, 
illegally entering Syria to attack U.S. forces in Iraq, and 
plotting to attack U.S. personnel in Jordan.  The court said 
it would re-examine seven guilty verdicts issued against the 
"Millennium Plotters."  Prosecutors called for the death 
penalty against those charged with planning chemical attacks 
in Amman in April 2004; further testimony was heard in the 
Jaghbir and Qteishat cases. END SUMMARY. 
 
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KHATTAB BRIGADE - CYANIDE PLOT 
------------------------------ 
 
2. (U) In mid-September, Jordanian security services arrested 
six men for plotting to use cyanide to kill bar owners and 
patrons in Jordan.  According to the charge sheet, the 
defendants, who named themselves the "Khattab Brigade," also 
planned to attack Americans who frequented the Four Seasons 
Hotel in Amman, and the Intercontinental Hotel in Aqaba.  The 
names of the defendants are as follows; ringleader Hamdi 
Ahmad Abdallah Ali, 23; Lu'ay Hisham Abd-al-Qadir al-Sharif, 
25; Muhammad Hasan Uqlah al-Umari, 24; Muhammad Awdah Ali, 
26; Usama Amin al-Shihabi, alias Abu-al-Zahra, a Palestinian 
fugitive; and Haytham Abd-al-Karim al-Sa'di, alias Abu-Tariq, 
another Palestinian fugitive.  The prosecutor charged all the 
defendants with conspiring to carry out terrorist activities; 
no court date has been set. 
 
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Al-ASWAD CELL 
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3. (U) On November 14, the State Security Court arraigned 
five men who were arrested in July and charged with plotting 
acts that would "harm Jordan's ties with foreign countries." 
The five defendants -- Iyad Ahmad al-Aswad; Anas Hasan 
Abu-Musamih; Ammar Muhammad al-Falluji; Qais Nur-al-Din 
Mir'I; and Hasan Muhammad al-Falluji -- pled not guilty to 
the charges.  According to their indictment, the defendants, 
residents of Irbid, between 19 and 34 years of age, intended 
to travel to Iraq through Syria to attack U.S. forces. 
Ringleader Iyad Ahmad al-Aswad, 34, allegedly recruited the 
four other cell members and arranged their travel to Syria 
through a contact identified as "Basel Rammah," a Syrian 
apparently known for smuggling fighters into Iraq. 
 
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BORDER INFILTRATORS INDICTED 
---------------------------- 
 
4. (U) Prosecutors indicted 15 Jordanian suspects in late 
October on charges of infiltrating the border with Syria to 
join insurgents fighting against U.S. troops in Iraq.  The 
suspects, five of whom are on the run, are accused of border 
infiltration, possession of an automatic weapon, and carrying 
out activities aimed at "undermining ties with a foreign 
nation."  According to prosecutors, 10 of the men were 
arrested in July after they returned to Jordan from Syria, 
having failed to enter Iraq by illegal means.  Some of the 
defendants met a man in Syria identified as "Abu Adam 
al-Tunisi," who was to help them enter Iraq.  While in Syria, 
the group allegedly met with Saudi and Libyan militants who 
tried to persuade them to carry out suicide attacks in Iraq. 
The indictment did not say if the cell was linked to Abu 
Mussab al-Zarqawi; however, Abu Adam al-Tunisi, the 
Syria-based contact, has been identified in previous 
Jordanian trials as being a Zarqawi recruiter.  A date for 
the trial has not been announced.  If found guilty, the 
defendants could receive a 15 year prison sentence. 
 
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MA'ADH BREIZAT - JIPTC PLOT 
--------------------------- 
 
5. (SBU) In late November, the State Security Court arraigned 
four men for plotting to attack U.S. personnel in Jordan (ref 
F.)  According to the indictments, the four men, Ma'adh 
Breizat (19), Ibrahim al-Jahawsheh (28), Faisal al-Rweidhan 
(28), and Ibadah al-Hiyari (24), had trained with automatic 
rifles and had followed U.S. instructors who work at the 
Jordanian International Police Training Center (JIPTC) to a 
house near the U.S. Embassy in Amman in August.  The four had 
also allegedly inspected a potential ambush site on a road 
used by U.S. personnel and other trainers driving to and from 
JIPTC (Ref A).  Ringleader Ma'adh Breizat is additionally 
charged with possessing unlicensed firearms.  No trial date 
has been set. 
 
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MILLENNIUM PLOT UPDATE 
---------------------- 
6. (U) On November 28, Jordan's military court said it would 
re-examine guilty verdicts it had issued against seven 
militants convicted of a bungled terror conspiracy to use 
poison gas against American and Israeli tourists during 
Jordan's millennium celebrations in December 1999.  Military 
judges adjourned the hearing until an unspecified date after 
an appeals court ordered a retrial on grounds that the 
plotters may be covered under a general amnesty issued by 
King Abdullah.  In 2000, the military court sentenced some of 
the 28 men involved in the plot with prison terms ranging 
from 7 1/2 years to life imprisonment, while sentencing 
others to death.  The seven defendants, who pleaded innocent, 
claimed previously they had confessed under duress.  The 
prosecution's indictment said the plotters had been 
collecting explosive material since 1996 from various Arab 
countries, including Syria and Iraq, and that many of the 
suspects had received military training in camps in Syria, 
Lebanon and Afghanistan. 
 
--------------------------------------------- ----- 
PROSECUTOR CALLS FOR DEATH IN CHEMICAL ATTACK CASE 
--------------------------------------------- ----- 
 
7. (U) On November 27, the state prosecutor demanded the 
death penalty for Abu Mus'ab al-Zarqawi and 11 other men 
accused of plotting a chemical bomb attack in Amman in April 
2004.  Four of the accused, including Zarqawi, are being 
tried in absentia.  Zarqawi has already been sentenced to 
death by the State Security Court for the October 2002 murder 
of U.S. diplomat Laurence Foley in Amman.  In addition to 
conspiracy to plot terrorist acts, the suspects are charged 
with membership in the outlawed "Al Tawheed Brigades," as 
well as possession and manufacture of explosives and weapons. 
 In September and October of 2005, defense lawyers for the 
eight defendants called for testimony from expert witnesses 
and a former General Intelligence Directorate official to 
prove that the defendants did not possess harmful chemicals 
(Refs B and C). 
 
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JAGHBIR CLAIMS TORTURE 
---------------------- 
 
8. (U) The State Security court charged Muammar Ahmad Jaghbir 
on November 21 with plotting "subversive acts that led to the 
death of individuals" for the August 2003 attack against the 
Jordanian embassy in Baghdad that killed 17 and injured 
dozens.  Jaghbir denied the charges, and claimed his 
confession was extracted under torture and duress.  Jaghbir, 
who was arrested in Iraq in May 2004 by U.S. forces and 
eventually handed over to Jordanian authorities, is also 
standing trial in the Laurence Foley case (Refs D and E). 
According to the prosecutor, Jaghbir met Zarqawi in Iraq in 
2002 and plotted to attack Jews and foreigners residing in 
Jordan, as well as Jordanian interests - including the 
Jordanian embassy - in Iraq.  The indictment further alleged 
that Zarqawi, Jaghbir and Nidal Arabiat packed a car with 
explosives that was later driven into the Jordanian embassy 
by a man named Abu Ahmad. 
 
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QTEISHAT CELL TRIAL CONTINUES 
----------------------------- 
 
9. (U) On November 16, relatives of four Jordanian men 
charged with plotting attacks against hotels, foreign 
tourists and General Intelligence Department (GID) officers 
in 2005, testified that they observed torture marks on the 
defendants' bodies.  The prosecution alleges that the four 
men - Osama Abu-Hazim, 23; Hatem Ensour, 20; Mohammad 
Arabiyat, 24; and Yazan al-Haliq, 24, - received military 
training and explosives from Mohammad Rateb Qteishat, who is 
being tried in absentia and is believed to be in Iraq.  The 
four men, arrested in February, claimed that they were beaten 
and forced to confess (Ref C). 
HALE