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Eight charged with plotting subversive acts
 The trial of eight Jordanian men charged with plotting subversive acts against Americans, Israelis and Iraqi police training centres in Jordan opened Wednesday at the State Security Court. The tribunal immediately adjourned the session until next Wednesday because one of the defendants was not brought into the courtroom by the prison administration. The eight men, including three who are being tried in absentia, were also charged with plotting activity aimed at undermining Jordan's relations with another country and belonging to an illegal organisation. The five men in custody were identified by the prosecution as Ahmad T., 37, Hassan A., 41, Abdul Hakim M., 29, Sami M., 33, and Sakher M. The remaining three defendants were identified as Haitham H., Ahmad Y., and Nasri A. The defendants decided to launch attacks against Americans, Israelis and Iraqi police training centres in the Kingdom following the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, the charge sheet said. The men decided to form 10 cells for this purpose and called themselves the "Mansourah Sect," according to the prosecution. "Some of the suspects used the Internet to lecture on jihad and the need to fight Israelis and Christians in any part of the world," the charge sheet said. They distributed CDs in the Kingdom, which contained material on military operations against American forces in Iraq and speeches by Jordanian fugitive Abu Mussab Zarqawi, it added. The suspects also distributed a magazine published by Al Qaeda network in Iraq, in mosques in Eastern Amman, according to the charge sheet. The prosecution also charged that some of the suspects recruited several people and sent them to fight in Iraq, which "harmed the relationship between the Iraqi and Jordanian governments." The authorities arrested five of the eight defendants in August 2005 before they carried out any of their alleged plans. Posted by: Fred 2006-03-16 |
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