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

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 AMMAN 006237 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PTER ASEC PHUM IZ JO
SUBJECT: JORDAN SECURITY COURT: TERRORISM TRIALS UPDATE 
 
REF: A. 04 AMMAN 10304 
     ¶B. AMMAN 4487 
     ¶C. 04 AMMAN 9243 
 
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SUMMARY 
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¶1.  (U)  Two new cases entered the State Security Court in 
July.  Jordanian extremist Issam al-Barqawi (aka Abu Mohammad 
al-Maqdisi) was released on June 26 and re-arrested a week 
later by Jordanian authorities on charges of instigating 
subversive acts.  Eight men with links to the Palestinian 
Islamic Jihad were indicted for plotting to conduct attacks 
in Jordan and Israel.  Meanwhile, several ongoing terrorism 
trials moved ahead.  Azmi Jayusi, the alleged mastermind of a 
Zarqawi plot disrupted in April 2004 to bomb the U.S. 
Embassy, Jordanian intelligence headquarters and Prime 
Ministry, admitted in a taped confession to having met 
Zarqawi in Iraq to plan the attacks.  The lawyers for 15 
local extremists on trial for plotting against foreign 
tourists and security personnel called for their acquittal, 
alleging the accused had been tortured.  Four others accused 
in a similar plot were convicted, but their sentences 
immediately reduced, "to give them a second chance in life." 
Muammar Jaghbir, already sentenced in the assassination of 
USAID official Laurence Foley, pleaded not guilty to 
involvement in the bombing of the Jordanian embassy in 
Baghdad in 2002.  A judicial source told press that convicted 
Zarqawi fundraiser Bilal Hiyari will be re-tried, and three 
men were sentenced in a plot to attack Israelis at the 
al-Hassan Industrial Estate in northern Jordan.  END SUMMARY. 
 
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MAQDISI RE-ARRESTED AFTER BRIEF RESPITE 
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¶2.  (U)  The state prosecutor formally charged Issam 
al-Barqawi (aka Abu Muhammad al-Maqdisi) on July 18 with 
plotting subversive acts in Jordan, according to press 
reports.  Deputy PM and GOJ spokesperson Marwan Muasher told 
reporters that Maqdisi was re-arrested because "he contacted 
terrorist parties," which he declined to identify.  A senior 
judicial source told the press that "State prosecutor Mahmoud 
Obeidat charged Maqdisi with plotting subversive acts on 
Monday (July 18) and ordered his detention for 14 days 
pending further investigations."  Jordanian officials 
released Maqdisi from custody on June 26, six months after 
the Security Court acquitted him of plotting subversive acts 
and possessing explosives as part of an alleged cell in 
Mafraq, due to "lack of evidence" (ref A).  However, the GOJ 
arrested him again on July 5.  Islamist weekly al-Sabil 
reported that Jordanian authorities arrested Maqdisi at the 
request of "another Arab country," which allegedly accuses 
him of involvement in issuing fatwas sanctioning attacks on 
its territories.  The paper quoted Maqdisi's family members 
who complained that the authorities did not allow Maqdisi to 
have an attorney present during his interrogation after his 
re-arrest.  Considered a former spiritual mentor of Zarqawi, 
Maqdisi appeared to have distanced himself from certain of 
Zarqawi's actions in Iraq.  He gave a lengthy interview to 
al-Jazeera upon his release in which he again repudiated some 
of Zarqawi's activities, such as attacks on churches and 
members of the Shi'a community. 
 
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PIJ AFFILIATES ON TRIAL 
----------------------- 
 
¶3.  (U)  The State Security Court in June indicted eight men 
from the northern town of Irbid on charges that they planned 
to carry out operations against foreign tourists in Jordan. 
The men, who authorities claim are affiliated with the 
Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), also planned to infiltrate 
Israel to conduct attacks there, according to the prosecutor. 
 During their initial court appearance, the defendants 
pleaded not guilty and claimed their confessions had been 
extracted under torture.  Relatives of the defendants at a 
later court session testified that they saw signs of torture 
on their bodies.  The Irbid men's targets allegedly included 
foreigners who frequented a restaurant in Qanater village 
near the northern town of Hosn, the Joud Hotel in Irbid, and 
tourist buses in several areas of Jordan.  Some of the 
defendants traveled to Syria and Lebanon in October 2004 to 
attend courses on manufacturing explosives and using weapons, 
according to the charge sheet, but the authorities arrested 
the men before they carried out any attacks.  The prosecutor 
alleged that the defendants embraced takfiri ideology, and in 
November 2004 talked about the need to kill foreign tourists 
visiting the country. 
 
¶4.  (U)  The defendants in custody include: Ali Mamduh Fathi 
al-Umari; Muhammad Sabri Muhammad Qasim al-Jundi; Yusef 
Abdallah Yusef al-Suwayti; Mahmud Muhammad Yahyah Abu Abid; 
Imad Sulayman Ahmad Muhammad Ubaydat; Hawari Madayan Hatim 
al-Darsiyah; and Abdel Rahim Ibrahim al-Haj Yusef Shalabiyah. 
 Abdul Muti Abdel Aziz Abu Mu'liq, who is believed to be 
hiding in Syria, is being tried in absentia.  Abu Mu'liq was 
sentenced to death in Jordan in 1997 for assassinating a 
Jordanian diplomat in Beirut in 1995, according to press 
reports.  The judge adjourned the trial until August 2. 
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JAYUSI ADMITS MEETING ZARQAWI IN IRAQ 
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¶5.  (U)  Azmi Jayusi, the reputed leader of a Zarqawi cell 
that plotted to attack the U.S. Embassy, GID headquarters and 
Prime Ministry in April 2004 admitted in a videotaped 
confession aired during a court session in July that he met 
with Abu Musab al-Zarqawi in preparation for the attacks (ref 
B).  "Zarqawi told me there would be military operations in 
Jordan and we needed to prepare for them... he gave me around 
JD 50,000, weapons, explosive devices and instructions to 
launch attacks.  Our first target was State Prosecutor 
Mahmoud Obeidat," said Jayusi.  A second target was a GID 
officer who had blue eyes and a white Mercedes, he added. 
Jayusi said he infiltrated Jordan from Iraq in February 2002 
hidden in a fuel tanker, and later met up with the rest of 
the defendants.  He re-enacted how he bought chemical 
substances, electronic equipment and lab devices from shops 
in the downtown area of Amman for his plans.  The tape also 
showed him manufacturing explosives and transporting empty 
jerry cans into trucks with two of the other defendants. 
 
¶6.  (U)  During the screening of the video, the defendants 
claimed the prosecution refused their requests that defense 
attorneys be present during the interrogation, a claim denied 
by Obeidat.  Obeidat said he informed the defendants of their 
right to an attorney, but that they "turned down his offer." 
Obeidat then rested his case, and the judge agreed to a 
request by defense attorneys for more time to meet with their 
clients and prepare their statements. 
 
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TAHAWI DEFENSE REQUESTS ACQUITTAL 
--------------------------------- 
 
¶7.  (U)  The defense team for 15 local extremists charged 
with plotting against foreigners and intelligence officers in 
Jordan, dubbed the Tahawi cell for its alleged leader, asked 
the court to acquit their clients on all charges, claiming 
authorities tortured the prisoners (ref C).  "Our clients 
should be declared innocent because their testimonies were 
extracted under torture and duress and because the state 
prosecution did not read them their indictment sheet when 
they were summoned for questioning," one of their lawyers, 
Zuhair Abul Ragheb, told the court.  "The prosecutor 
questioned my clients after traces of torture disappeared 
from their bodies to obtain confessions," he charged during 
his closing argument, claiming that the security forces used 
"special chemical substances" to hide marks of torture. 
 
¶8.  (U)  Abul Ragheb also expressed anger over statements in 
state prosecutor Obeidat's closing remarks weeks earlier in 
which Obeidat accused the attorney of being part of the 
Tahawi group "because he was defending the mujahidin."  Abdul 
Ragheb (who also is an Islamic Action Front member of 
Parliament from Amman) retorted: "This is a strange statement 
by the prosecution against a lawyer.  It would be a great 
honor for me to be part of the mujahidin in Palestine or 
Iraq." 
 
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FOUR LOCAL EXTREMISTS SENTENCED 
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¶9.  (U)  The State Security Court on July 14 convicted and 
sentenced four local extremists accused of plotting against 
foreign tourists and security personnel to three years in 
jail (ref B).  As is frequently done with first time 
offenders, the court commuted the sentences of three of the 
defendants to 18 months "to give the defendants a second 
chance in life."  The sentence of the fourth defendant, Ahmad 
Mohammad, was reduced to two years.  The defense team said it 
would ask the defendants "if they wish to appeal the verdict, 
or just spend the remaining time that is left for them in 
prison."  The verdict is still subject to appeal by the 
prosecution within 30 days. 
 
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JAGHBIR PLEADS NOT GUILTY 
------------------------- 
 
¶10.  (U)  An alleged Zarqawi associate, Muammar Ahmad 
Jaghbir, pleaded not guilty during a court appearance in 
early July to involvement in the 2003 bombing of the 
Jordanian Embassy in Baghdad (ref B).  Jaghbir's lawyer 
complained to the court that his client had been detained for 
six months for interrogation by the security forces: "My 
client's long detention period is in violation of his rights 
and the law and I hope the court will take this into 
consideration," Fathi Daradkeh stated.  The judge said he 
would consider the defense's claims when he issued his 
verdict.  Jaghbir and Zarqawi were sentenced to death for the 
assassination of USAID official Laurence Foley in October 
¶2002. 
 
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HIYARI TO FACE RE-TRIAL 
----------------------- 
 
¶11.  (U)  A convicted Zarqawi fundraiser will be re-tried in 
the State Security Court, a judicial source told the press 
(ref C).  Bilal Hiyari was sentenced in October 2004 to six 
months in jail for collecting funds for Zarqawi, but  was 
acquitted of charges that he conspired to carry out terrorist 
activities in Jordan "for lack of evidence."  The Court of 
Cassation overturned the Security Court's initial decision, 
sending it back to lower court.  "The State Security Court 
verdict fell short of adequate justifications and causes," 
according to the source. 
 
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WITNESSES CALLED IN CASE OF KARAMEH BORDER INCIDENT 
--------------------------------------------- ------ 
 
¶12.  (U)  Prosecution witnesses continued to testify in the 
case of a Saudi national, Fahd Fuheiki, who is accused of 
attempting to carry out a suicide attack on the 
Iraqi-Jordanian Karameh/Trebil border crossing in December 
2004 (ref B).  Two army officers testified that they had 
examined the car filled with explosives that Fuheiki failed 
to detonate.  Zarqawi and Thirar Abu Odeh are being tried in 
absentia on the same charges. 
 
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THREE CONVICTED IN PLOT TO ATTACK ISRAELIS 
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¶13.  (U)  The State Security Court on July 13 sentenced three 
men to prison terms ranging from one to three years for 
planning to attack Israelis visiting Al Hassan Industrial 
Estate in Irbid.  The Court sentenced two men to three years 
in prison each, but immediately commuted the sentence to one 
year "to give them a second chance in life."  A third, who 
was tried in absentia, received a three-year sentence.  Court 
documents said the three men, residents of Azmi Mufti refugee 
camp in Irbid, formed a jihad group and planned to buy a 
machine gun to kill Israelis.  One of the men worked at the 
industrial area and allegedly monitored the movements of 
Israelis who came there. 
 
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"DO NOT JAIL US JUST BECAUSE WE HATE AMERICA" 
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¶14.  (U)  The lawyers for four men accused of planning to 
attack tourists and liquor stores in Jordan asked the court 
to dismiss the charges against their clients, claiming they 
had been subjected to torture and duress at the hands of the 
security forces in order to elicit their confessions.  (NOTE: 
The defendants had already retracted their confessions during 
an earlier court session.  END NOTE.)  They also said their 
clients were denied their right to have an attorney present 
during their interrogation.  The lawyers added that since one 
of the four had confessed to illegally possessing a machine 
gun, the weapons charges against the other three should be 
dropped.  In his closing argument, the defense attorney 
stated that the defendants did not plot any "terrorist acts," 
and "if they hated Americans they should not be imprisoned 
for it.... If every person who hates Americans is put on 
trial then you would not only have to try the Jordanian 
population, but all the oppressed nations that hate 
Americans." 
 
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