Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06AMMAN2118
2006-03-22 16:12:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Embassy Amman
Cable title:  

JORDAN'S STATE SECURITY COURT MOVES ON TERRORISM

Tags:  PTER PHUM ASEC IZ SY JO 
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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 AMMAN 002118 

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PTER PHUM ASEC IZ SY JO
SUBJECT: JORDAN'S STATE SECURITY COURT MOVES ON TERRORISM
CASES

REF: A. 05 AMMAN 8828

B. 05 AMMAN 6694

C. TD 314/47933-05

D. AMMAN 1176

E. 05 AMMAN 8717

F. 05 AMMAN 9515

G. 05 AMMAN 9392

H. AMMAN 1827

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 AMMAN 002118

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PTER PHUM ASEC IZ SY JO
SUBJECT: JORDAN'S STATE SECURITY COURT MOVES ON TERRORISM
CASES

REF: A. 05 AMMAN 8828

B. 05 AMMAN 6694

C. TD 314/47933-05

D. AMMAN 1176

E. 05 AMMAN 8717

F. 05 AMMAN 9515

G. 05 AMMAN 9392

H. AMMAN 1827


1. (SBU) SUMMARY: Jordan's State Security Court (SSC)
indicted 20 defendants for terrorist activities in connection
with attacks in Amman and Aqaba last year, and indicted
members of the "Al-Mansurah" cell for conspiring to carry out
terrorist acts. The SSC reached verdicts in six
terrorism-related cases, including the Jayousi chemical
attack plot of April, 2004. Proceedings continued in cases
against two groups charged with plotting attacks against
Americans. The SSC also heard appeals from defendants in the
Millennium Plot case, and sentenced a man who posted
terrorist threats on an internet chat room. The assassins of
USAID officer Lawrence Foley were executed by government
authorities in mid-March. END SUMMARY.

HOTEL BOMBERS INDICTED


2. (U) On March 14, the SSC indicted eight defendants,
including Iraqi would-be suicide bomber Sajida Rishawi, 35,
for the November 2005 hotel bombings in Amman (ref A).
Rishawi, who was arrested several days after the bombings,
will be tried soon, while the seven other defendants - Othman
Ismail Dalimi, Hiam Hassan, Walid Hassan, Nihad Rishawi,
Karim Jassim Fahdawi, Mazen Mohammad Shehadeh and Abu Mus'ab
al-Zarqawi - will be tried in absentia for possessing
explosives with illicit intent and plotting subversive acts
that led to death and destruction.

AQABA ATTACKERS INDICTED


3. (U) Also on March 14, the SSC indicted 12 defendants,
including seven Syrians, four Iraqis and one Saudi, for the
August 2005 rocket attack in Aqaba (ref B). Six of the 12
defendants are in custody. They were identified as: Abdul
Rahman Abdullah, 52; Mohammad Hassan Sahli, 53; his sons
Yasser, 30; Bilal, 24; and Baraa, 24 - all Syrian. A sixth
defendant, Sameh Nobani, 22, is a Saudi citizen residing in
Jordan, according to the charge sheet. The other six
defendants - who remain at large - were identified as Amar
Samerai, Abdul Halim Dalimi, Hamid Dalimi and Hussam Dalimi,
(all Iraqi),and Abdul Ruhman Sahli and his brother Abdullah
(both Syrian). The defendants were charged with possessing

explosives with illicit intent, and plotting subversive acts
that led to the death of an individual.

AL-MANSURAH CELL INDICTMENTS


4. (SBU) In mid-March the SSC indicted eight members of the
Al-Mansurah cell for conspiring to carry out terrorist acts,
membership in an illegal group, and carrying out acts not
sanctioned by the government. Five of the defendants - Ahmad
Tahir Mahmud Shabanah, 37; Hassan Ahmad Muhammad Mansi, 41;
Abd-al-Hakim Mahmud Abd-al-Karim Ali Mu'alla, 39; Sami Mahmud
Muhammad al-Aridi, 33; and Sakhar Mustafa Muhammad al-Fawa'ir
- are in custody. Haitham Hammad Mahmud al Qazzaz, Ahmad
Yusuf Ahmad Yasin, and Nasri Izz al Din Muhammad Fayyad al
Tahaynah, the other three defendants, remain at large.
Shabanah and other members of the group allegedly distributed
CDs containing letters of Abu-Mus'ab al-Zarqawi and photos of
anti-Coalition operations in Iraq to mosques in east Amman.
Although the defendants were arrested in August 2005, the
press only recently reported this case. COMMENT: Press
reports of terrorism-related arrests are often delayed in
Jordan. The GOJ shared information on this particular case
with the USG after the arrests in August (ref C). END
COMMENT.

VERDICTS IN THE CHEMICAL PLOT


5. (U) The SSC sentenced nine men on February 14 to death by
hanging, including Abu Mus'ab al-Zarqawi, for the 2004 plot
to carry out a chemical/vehicle borne explosive attack
against the U.S. Embassy and Jordanian government targets in
Amman. The plot,s mastermind, Azmi al-Jayousi, and four
co-defendants were present for the sentencing; four others
were sentenced in absentia (ref D.)

HORANI CELL VERDICTS


6. (U) On March 14, the SSC sentenced seven men to various
prison terms after convicting them of plotting activities
aimed at undermining Jordan's relations with another country.
The SSC initially sentenced the cell,s leader, Zeid Saleh
al-Horani, 27, and a man identified in the media only as
Khalid K., 33, to five-year prison terms, but then reduced
the sentence to four years each to "give them a second chance
in life." Four other defendants, whose full surnames the
court also witheld - Yeldar W., 25, Hassan S., 25, Murad M.,
25, and Abdul Rahman Y., 23 - were also sentenced to
five-year prison terms, which were then commuted to three
years. The last defendant in the case, Ashraf M., 25,
received a 20-month prison term for the same charges. In
previous court sessions, the defendants claimed that they
were subjected to torture and duress by security forces, and
that their interrogation and arrest procedures were thus
illegal. Defense attorney Hamad Emoush said that he will
appeal the verdicts. Arrested in March and May 2005, the
defendants reportedly recruited anti-Coalition fighters in
Jordan and sent them to Syria, where an individual identified
as Abu Janna provided them with military training, according
to the prosecution charge sheet (ref E.)

QTEISHAT CELL VERDICTS


7. (U) The SSC sentenced four men on March 12 to 10 years in
prison each for plotting attacks against hotels, tourist
sites, and Jordanian security officers in 2005. The SSC
originally sentenced the four - Osama Abu Hazeem, Hatem
Ensour, Mohammad Arabiat and Yazan Haliq - to death, but
immediately commuted the sentence to 10 years imprisonment
"to give them a second chance in life." The cell's
mastermind, Jordanian fugitive Mohammad Rateb Qteishat who is
believed to be in Iraq, was tried in absentia and received a
life sentence. The court also convicted the defendants, who
shouted "God is our protector and America is yours" during
the sentencing, of conspiracy to carry out terrorist attacks
and possessing illegal explosives with illicit intent.
Defense attorney Hikmat Rawashdeh claimed the defendants
confessed under torture and were denied legal representation
during their interrogation. He will appeal the verdicts.
Arrested in February 2005, the group planned to target three
luxury hotels frequented by tourists, General Intelligence
Directorate (GID) officers, and tourist sites (refs E and F.)

AL-MRAYAT CELL VERDICTS


8. (U) On January 16, the SSC sentenced Abdullah al-Mrayat,
28, to four years of hard labor for recruiting fighters to
join the insurgency in Iraq. Mrayat,s three co-defendants,
Moaz al-Zohbi, Saleh al-Maghari, and Khaled al-Manhur, were
acquitted for lack of proof. The four men were indicted in
September for planning to join insurgents in Iraq and
recruiting fighters to attack Coalition forces, but pleaded
not guilty at the start of their trial in October. According
to the prosecutor, Mrayat traveled to Syria in May 2005,
intending to slip into Iraq to join the insurgency, but
failed to make it across the border (ref E.)

BORDER INFILTRATORS SENTENCED


9. (U) On March 8, the SSC handed down sentences, ranging
from 20 months to 15 years hard labor, to 11 defendants for
infiltrating the border with Syria to join insurgents
fighting against coalition forces in Iraq. The defendants
were arrested in July 2005 after they returned to Jordan from
Syria, having failed to enter Iraq. Five members of this
cell remain at large (ref F.)

VERDICTS AGAINST MUSA RAMADAN AND MAHMUD SA'DAH


10. (U) In late January the SSC sentenced Musa Ramadan, 23,
and Mundir Mahmud Sa'dah, 24, to four-year prison terms for
plotting attacks against Americans and liquor stores.
Ramadan, arrested in the Syrian city of Homs and extradited
to Jordan in July 2004, allegedly traveled to Syria to join
fighters headed for Iraq (ref E.)

BREIZAT CELL - JIPTC PLOT CASE CONTINUES


11. (SBU) The SSC indicted four suspects on March 6 for
conspiracy with intent to carry out terrorist attacks in
Jordan. In addition, the defendants were charged with the
acquisition of automatic and unlicensed weaponry.
Prosecutors called for the maximum penalty of 15 years. The
suspects - Ma,adh Breizat, Ibrahim Jahawha, Faisal Rweidan
and Obada Hiyari - allegedly followed American instructors at
the Jordan International Police Training Center (JIPTC) to a
house near the U.S. Embassy in Amman in August 2005, and
inspected a potential ambush site on the road used by U.S.
and other trainers to travel to and from JIPTC. The
suspects, under arrest since September 2005, claimed that
their testimonies were derived under duress (refs F and G.)

KHATTAB BRIGADE - CYANIDE CASE CONTINUES


12. (U) On March 20, four men standing trial for plotting to
use cyanide to kill bar owners and patrons, and to attack
Americans, retracted their confessions, claiming they were
extracted under duress. The defendants' lawyer Hikmat
Rawashdeh argued during his closing remarks that, "Most
Jordanians wish to fight Americans and Israelis and I am one
of them. Should I be punished for this intention? If this
is the case then the authorities should punish the entire
Jordanian population." The four defendants - Hamdi Ahmad
Abdallah Ali, 23; Lu'ay Hisham abd-al Qadi al Sharif, 25;
Muhammad Hasan Uqlah al Umri, 24; and Muhammad Awdah al Ali -
were arrested in mid-September 2005. Two other defendants,
Usama Amin al Shihabi and Haytham Abd al Karim are being
tried in absentia on the same charges (ref F.)

MILLENNIUM PLOT VERDICTS CHALLENGED


13. (U) On January 16, the SSC upheld sentences against four
Millennium plotters and acquitted two others. Denying their
fourth appeal, the SSC confirmed death sentences against
Khodr Abu Hoshar and Osama Samar, who were first indicted in
September 2000 for plotting poison gas attacks against
American and Israeli tourists during Jordan,s millennium
celebration in 1999. The SSC also upheld life sentences
against Khaled Mughamess and Saeed Hijazi. Ismail Khatib and
Raed Bdeir, who were initially sentenced to 10 years in
prison, were acquitted.

FOLEY ASSASSINS EXECUTED


14. (U) Jordanian authorities executed Libyan national Yasser
Saad bin Suway, 43, and Yasser Fateh Furayhat, 31, on March
11 for the October 2002 assassination of USAID officer
Lawrence Foley (ref H). Of the eleven men charged for
Foley,s murder, Suwayd and Furayhat are the only two that
have been executed. One was acquitted, two others are
serving prison sentences, and six others, including Abu
Mus'ab al-Zarqawi, were sentenced to death in absentia.
Muammar Jaghbir, one of the six originally sentenced to death
in absentia, is currently being retried (ref F.)

E-THREATS PROSECUTED


15. (U) On March 6, the SSC continued proceedings in the case
of Yousef Daghastani, a Syrian accused of threatening to
carry out terror attacks following the November 2005, hotel
bombings in Amman. In late November 2005, Daghastani
threatened more bloodshed and a resumption of terrorist
attacks on a popular internet forum from an internet caf in
Zarqa. He also demanded a 1.41 million Jordanian dinar
ransom, and the release of the failed female suicide bomber,
Sajida al Rishawi. According to the prosecution charge
sheet, Daghastani,s user name was "911" and his password
"blood." Daghastani is not the first Jordanian prosecuted
for threatening terror via the internet. In May 2005, the
SSC sentenced Murad Khaled al Assidah, also from Zarqa, to
two and a half years for e-mailing bomb threats to GID
officers.
HALE