This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

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 
 
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SUMMARY 
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¶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. 
 
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COURT FORMALLY CHARGES TAHAWI CELL 
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¶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. 
 
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FOUR JORDANIANS INDICTED FOR ANOTHER PLOT AGAINST TOURISTS 
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¶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. 
 
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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. 
 
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DABBAS CLAIMS TORTURE 
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¶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