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| Iraq-Jordan |
| Jordan Jails 3 in Plot Against U.S., Israeli Tourists |
| 2004-05-10 |
| A Jordanian court jailed three people Monday, including the nephew of a notorious al Qaeda operative, for plotting attacks on U.S. and Israeli tourists. The state security court sentenced Omar Sayel al-Khalayleh, nephew of Jordanian-born al Qaeda operative Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, and two others to three years in prison. "Because the defendants did not actually carry out the acts and because there were no explosives included in the trial, we sentenced them to three years," Judge Fawaz al-Baqour said. "They had no contacts with Zarqawi, except for his relative since they are family members," he told Reuters. Court documents said Khalayleh was influenced by his uncle's conviction the Jordanian government was flouting Islamic strictures. The three men were arrested in May 2003. Last month the state security court sentenced eight Islamic militants to death, including Zarqawi who was tried in absentia, for killing a U.S. diplomat in Amman. Jordanian state television also showed last month what it said were confessions by captured militants saying they received orders from Zarqawi to attack targets that included the heavily guarded U.S. embassy and intelligence headquarters in Amman. A tape purporting to be the voice of Zarqawi said last month al Qaeda had planned to attack Jordanian intelligence. The United States believes Zarqawi is in Iraq and organizing attacks on U.S.-led coalition forces and other targets. |
| Posted by:Fred |