PROSECUTION WITNESSES TESTIFY IN FOLEY TRIAL

UNCLAS AMMAN 005907 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PTER ASEC PREL JO SUBJECT: PROSECUTION WITNESSES TESTIFY IN FOLEY TRIAL ¶1. (U) The state security court trial of five suspects in the October 2002 assassination of USAID official Laurence Foley resumed on September 2 and 9 with the appearance of several more witnesses for the prosecution. The first round of prosecution witnesses appeared before the court on September 2, during which First Lt. Muthana Katan testified that he found files about bombmaking and poisons on the computer of alleged Libyan mastermind Salem Bin Suweid. "I inspected a computer and some diskettes and CDs belonging to defendant Salem Bin Suweid. I found material on how to manufacture explosives and poisonous substances." He also testified that he found material on how to resist law enforcement officials, some maps, and electronic books by Muslim scholars. ¶2. (U) On September 9, Investigator Lt. Col. Abdul Nasser al-Dabbas described the crime scene, while Lt. Col. Naji al-Azam told the court that police confiscated from the defendants an aerosol crowd-dispersal device (probably tear gas or pepper spray) that is used by riot police. Dr. Moumen al-Hadidi, who performed the autopsy, reported that the assailants' bullets struck Mr. Foley eight times, according to press reports. ¶3. (U) Bin Suweid and his four accomplices have all pleaded innocent to the charges, which include conspiring to commit terrorist acts and illegal possession of automatic weapons. The prosecution claims that the group began targeting American and Jewish interests as well as Jordanian security forces in 1997. Six others remain at large. All 11 suspects face the death penalty if convicted. While the indictment does not specifically mention al-Qa'ida, it does say some of the accused had links with Jordanian militant Abu Mus'ab al-Zarqawi, who is believed to be a senior figure in the organization. The trial is adjourned until September 16. HALE