Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
05AMMAN345
2005-01-17 09:31:00
UNCLASSIFIED
Embassy Amman
Cable title:  

NEW TERRORISM CASES ENTER JORDANIAN COURT SYSTEM;

Tags:  PTER ASEC JO KHMN 
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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 AMMAN 000345 

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PTER ASEC JO KHMN
SUBJECT: NEW TERRORISM CASES ENTER JORDANIAN COURT SYSTEM;
ZARQAWI AFFILIATES REMAIN DEFIANT IN SEPARATE TRIALS

REF: A. AMMAN 00162

B. 04 AMMAN 08601

C. 04 AMMAN 09243

-------
SUMMARY
-------

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 AMMAN 000345

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PTER ASEC JO KHMN
SUBJECT: NEW TERRORISM CASES ENTER JORDANIAN COURT SYSTEM;
ZARQAWI AFFILIATES REMAIN DEFIANT IN SEPARATE TRIALS

REF: A. AMMAN 00162

B. 04 AMMAN 08601

C. 04 AMMAN 09243

--------------
SUMMARY
--------------


1. (U) Two new terrorism cases began court proceedings in
early January. The State Security Court on January 9
formally charged 16 Jordanians for plotting against foreign
and Jordanian targets during 2004. Separately, the Court on
January 4 indicted four men accused of planning attacks
against foreign tourists and Jordanian intelligence
officials. Meanwhile, two high-profile terrorism cases
linked to fugitive Jordanian terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi
moved forward in the Court in late December. Suspects in the
Jayusi cell, accused of plotting to bomb the U.S. Embassy and
Jordanian government targets, rejected their court-appointed
attorneys. Prosecution and defense witnesses in the case of
Miqdad al-Dabbas, accused of working with Zarqawi to target
Jordanian interests in Iraq, provided conflicting testimony
about Dabbas' claims of torture while in custody. End Summary.

--------------
COURT FORMALLY CHARGES TAHAWI CELL
--------------


2. (U) In a case that came to the public's attention only
last week (ref A),the State Security Court on January 9
formally charged 16 Jordanian men for plotting attacks
against foreign and Jordanian targets during 2004. All are
in custody except for Khalid Fawzi, who is being tried in
absentia. The men, all between 18 and 33 years of age,
mostly hail from Irbid. According to the charge sheet, they
were led by 50-year-old Abed Shihadah al-Tahawi. Tahawi
reportedly lived in Saudi Arabia and Afghanistan between 1979
and 1990, during which time he obtained weapons training. In
1990 he was expelled from Saudi Arabia for his takfiri
leanings (which brand as infidels Muslim governments and
individuals who are insufficiently observant) and criticism
of the Saudi royal family. Upon his return to Jordan, he
taught religious classes in Irbid-area mosques, which
included harsh criticism of Arab regimes. He recruited the
other defendants through these classes, and the group
collected money and bought weapons under Tahawi's guidance to
plot attacks.


3. (U) In addition to the targets previously reported
(including foreign archeologists, a U.S. military band
performing at the Jerash festival, and an Irbid hotel
believed to host Israeli tourists),press reports say the

group also targeted a local journalist (and post contact) who
had criticized Zarqawi during a television program, and the
director of the Jerash Festival.

-------------- --------------
FOUR JORDANIANS INDICTED FOR ANOTHER PLOT AGAINST TOURISTS
-------------- --------------


4. (U) In an apparently separate case, the State Security
Court's prosecutor general Mahmoud Obeidat on January 4
formally charged another four Jordanians with plotting
terrorist attacks against foreign tourists and Jordanian
intelligence officers. According to the charge sheet, the
four were arrested in August and September 2004 for their
plans to kill foreign tourists visiting various areas in
Jordan, as well to attack GID personnel and vehicles. In
preparation for the attacks, the group allegedly bought a
machine-gun, two handguns, and ammunition. The defendants
were named as Suleiman Hassan Saleh Sheikh Ali; Omar Roumi
Saleh Sheikh Ali; Riyadh Jamil Suleiman Abu Duhaileh; and
Ahmad Mohammad Mahmoud Abu Katmeh.


5. (U) According to the charge sheet, the group, which also
reportedly subscribed to the takfiri ideology, met several
times since January 2003 to choose targets. Among them:
American and Israeli tourists traveling by bus to tourist
sites, including the Jordan Valley, the (Jordanian) site of
Jesus' baptism, and the ruins at Um Qais on the northern
border. They also allegedly planned to torch a GID vehicle
during prayers at the Irbid refugee camp mosque and to attack
another that patrolled inside the camp; the charge sheet said
that the group had already mapped its route. The men are
expected to stand trial within the next few weeks.

-------------- --------------
JAYUSI CELL MEMBERS REFUSE COURT-APPOINTED LAWYERS
-------------- --------------


6. (U) In one of the most high-profile terrorist cases to
date in Jordan, the State Security Court in late December
heard the refusal of several defendants, accused of planning
vehicle bomb attacks against the U.S. Embassy and GOJ
targets, to accept court-appointed lawyers. The judge
acquiesced to their demand to have lawyers selected by the
Jordanian Bar Association, and adjourned indefinitely to make
the necessary arrangements. Nine of 13 suspects (dubbed the
"Jayusi cell" for its leader, 36-year-old Azmi Jayusi) are in
custody for their role in the plot, disrupted by Jordanian
security forces in April 2004. Jordan's most-wanted
fugitive, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, and three others are being
tried in absentia. Following their formal indictment in
October 2004 (ref B),the trial opened in mid-December under
tight security and intense media coverage.


7. (U) The group allegedly first planned to launch a rocket
attack on Eilat from Aqaba, but changed their plans upon
Zarqawi's instructions and decided to target the GID and
other targets. The prosecution alleges that Jayusi left
Jordan in 1999 for Afghanistan where he trained in the
manufacture of explosives and the use of detonators. During
his time in Afghanistan, prosecutors say he met Zarqawi.

--------------
DABBAS CLAIMS TORTURE
--------------


8. (U) In yet another case related to Zarqawi, the lawyer
for 24-year-old Miqdad al-Dabbas, accused of plotting attacks
against Jordanian targets in Iraq with Zarqawi, told the
Security Court on December 27 that his client was innocent of
all charges. Attorney Amjad Khreisat said that Dabbas'
confessions were "extracted under torture and duress," and
that he was "forced into signing a confession for something
he did not plot." Prosecution and defense witnesses provided
conflicting testimony about Dabbas' torture allegations. The
prosecution called an intelligence official who interrogated
Dabbas to dispute the allegations; the official said that
Dabbas "confessed willingly without being subjected to any
form of torture or duress." On January 11, the defense
called two prison inmates to testify that they observed
evidence of torture on Dabbas' body. The judge adjourned
indefinitely so that attorneys could prepare closing remarks.


9. (U) Dabbas first entered the system as a witness in the
trial of Zarqawi fund-raiser Bilal al-Hiyari. Upon
conclusion of that trial in October 2004, Dabbas was indicted
on charges that he conspired to conduct terrorist acts
against Jordanian and U.S. targets in Iraq (ref B). Dabbas
pleaded "not guilty" during the opening session of his trial
in December and claimed not to know Zarqawi. The prosecution
alleges that Dabbas befriended Zarqawi during a visit to Iraq
in 2002, and that Zarqawi asked Dabbas to return to Jordan to
collect funds for his militant activities. When Dabbas
returned to Iraq he pledged obedience to Zarqawi, who asked
him to examine Jordanian targets in Baghdad, including the
Jordanian embassy and military attache's office. "Dabbas
monitored the premises and provided Zarqawi with detailed
security information," according to the charge sheet. The
embassy was bombed in August 2003, but the prosecutor has not
tied that attack to Dabbas directly. The charge sheet does
not provide details about the nature of Dabbas' alleged U.S.
targets.


10. (U) Baghdad minimize considered.

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