Jordan put on trial yesterday a militant accused of having been recruited by Al-Qaeda ally Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi to bankroll a wave of deadly attacks including suicide bombings in Iraq. Bilal Mansour Hiyari, 34, faces two charges of conspiracy with "intent to engage in terrorist acts" and "financing and collecting donations for an illegal group." The conspiracy charge alone carries the death sentence.
Hiyari pleaded not guilty to both charges as they were read by the state security court's chief judge Col. Fawaz Baqour. Prosecutor Mahmoud Obeidat said Hiyari met Al-Zarqawi in July 2003 in a secret location in post-war Iraq after he came to Iraq to join in "a holy war against US troops." Hiyari and fellow Jordanian Al-Zarqawi fought together alongside Osama Bin Laden's Al-Qaeda network in Afghanistan where a deep personal bond grew between them, Obeidat said.
After spending a month with Hiyari in Iraq before heading back to Jordan, Al-Zarqawi entrusted him with the task of collecting funds in the kingdom to finance bombings. |