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 002118 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PTER PHUM ASEC IZ SY JO
SUBJECT: JORDAN'S STATE SECURITY COURT MOVES ON TERRORISM 
CASES 
 
REF: A. 05 AMMAN 8828 
     ¶B. 05 AMMAN 6694 
     ¶C. TD 314/47933-05 
     ¶D. AMMAN 1176 
     ¶E. 05 AMMAN 8717 
     ¶F. 05 AMMAN 9515 
     ¶G. 05 AMMAN 9392 
     ¶H. AMMAN 1827 
 
¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY: Jordan's State Security Court (SSC) 
indicted 20 defendants for terrorist activities in connection 
with attacks in Amman and Aqaba last year, and indicted 
members of the "Al-Mansurah" cell for conspiring to carry out 
terrorist acts.  The SSC reached verdicts in six 
terrorism-related cases, including the Jayousi chemical 
attack plot of April, 2004.  Proceedings continued in cases 
against two groups charged with plotting attacks against 
Americans.  The SSC also heard appeals from defendants in the 
Millennium Plot case, and sentenced a man who posted 
terrorist threats on an internet chat room.  The assassins of 
USAID officer Lawrence Foley were executed by government 
authorities in mid-March.  END SUMMARY. 
 
HOTEL BOMBERS INDICTED 
 
¶2. (U) On March 14, the SSC indicted eight defendants, 
including Iraqi would-be suicide bomber Sajida Rishawi, 35, 
for the November 2005 hotel bombings in Amman (ref A). 
Rishawi, who was arrested several days after the bombings, 
will be tried soon, while the seven other defendants - Othman 
Ismail Dalimi, Hiam Hassan, Walid Hassan, Nihad Rishawi, 
Karim Jassim Fahdawi, Mazen Mohammad Shehadeh and Abu Mus'ab 
al-Zarqawi - will be tried in absentia for possessing 
explosives with illicit intent and plotting subversive acts 
that led to death and destruction. 
 
AQABA ATTACKERS INDICTED 
 
¶3. (U) Also on March 14, the SSC indicted 12 defendants, 
including seven Syrians, four Iraqis and one Saudi, for the 
August 2005 rocket attack in Aqaba (ref B).  Six of the 12 
defendants are in custody.  They were identified as: Abdul 
Rahman Abdullah, 52; Mohammad Hassan Sahli, 53; his sons 
Yasser, 30; Bilal, 24; and Baraa, 24 - all Syrian.  A sixth 
defendant, Sameh Nobani, 22, is a Saudi citizen residing in 
Jordan, according to the charge sheet.  The other six 
defendants - who remain at large - were identified as Amar 
Samerai, Abdul Halim Dalimi, Hamid Dalimi and Hussam Dalimi, 
(all Iraqi), and Abdul Ruhman Sahli and his brother Abdullah 
(both Syrian).  The defendants were charged with possessing 
explosives with illicit intent, and plotting subversive acts 
that led to the death of an individual. 
 
AL-MANSURAH CELL INDICTMENTS 
 
¶4. (SBU) In mid-March the SSC indicted eight members of the 
Al-Mansurah cell for conspiring to carry out terrorist acts, 
membership in an illegal group, and carrying out acts not 
sanctioned by the government.  Five of the defendants - Ahmad 
Tahir Mahmud Shabanah, 37; Hassan Ahmad Muhammad Mansi, 41; 
Abd-al-Hakim Mahmud Abd-al-Karim Ali Mu'alla, 39; Sami Mahmud 
Muhammad al-Aridi, 33; and Sakhar Mustafa Muhammad al-Fawa'ir 
- are in custody.  Haitham Hammad Mahmud al Qazzaz, Ahmad 
Yusuf Ahmad Yasin, and Nasri Izz al Din Muhammad Fayyad al 
Tahaynah, the other three defendants, remain at large. 
Shabanah and other members of the group allegedly distributed 
CDs containing letters of Abu-Mus'ab al-Zarqawi and photos of 
anti-Coalition operations in Iraq to mosques in east Amman. 
Although the defendants were arrested in August 2005, the 
press only recently reported this case.  COMMENT:  Press 
reports of terrorism-related arrests are often delayed in 
Jordan.  The GOJ shared information on this particular case 
with the USG after the arrests in August (ref C).  END 
COMMENT. 
 
VERDICTS IN THE CHEMICAL PLOT 
 
¶5. (U) The SSC sentenced nine men on February 14 to death by 
hanging, including Abu Mus'ab al-Zarqawi, for the 2004 plot 
to carry out a chemical/vehicle borne explosive attack 
against the U.S. Embassy and Jordanian government targets in 
Amman.  The plot,s mastermind, Azmi al-Jayousi, and four 
co-defendants were present for the sentencing; four others 
were sentenced in absentia (ref D.) 
 
HORANI CELL VERDICTS 
 
¶6. (U) On March 14, the SSC sentenced seven men to various 
prison terms after convicting them of plotting activities 
aimed at undermining Jordan's relations with another country. 
 The SSC initially sentenced the cell,s leader, Zeid Saleh 
al-Horani, 27, and a man identified in the media only as 
Khalid K., 33, to five-year prison terms, but then reduced 
the sentence to four years each to "give them a second chance 
in life."  Four other defendants, whose full surnames the 
court also witheld - Yeldar W., 25, Hassan S., 25, Murad M., 
25, and Abdul Rahman Y., 23 - were also sentenced to 
five-year prison terms, which were then commuted to three 
years.  The last defendant in the case, Ashraf M., 25, 
received a 20-month prison term for the same charges.  In 
previous court sessions, the defendants claimed that they 
were subjected to torture and duress by security forces, and 
that their interrogation and arrest procedures were thus 
illegal.  Defense attorney Hamad Emoush said that he will 
appeal the verdicts.  Arrested in March and May 2005, the 
defendants reportedly recruited anti-Coalition fighters in 
Jordan and sent them to Syria, where an individual identified 
as Abu Janna provided them with military training, according 
to the prosecution charge sheet (ref E.) 
 
QTEISHAT CELL VERDICTS 
 
¶7. (U) The SSC sentenced four men on March 12 to 10 years in 
prison each for plotting attacks against hotels, tourist 
sites, and Jordanian security officers in 2005.  The SSC 
originally sentenced the four - Osama Abu Hazeem, Hatem 
Ensour, Mohammad Arabiat and Yazan Haliq - to death, but 
immediately commuted the sentence to 10 years imprisonment 
"to give them a second chance in life."  The cell's 
mastermind, Jordanian fugitive Mohammad Rateb Qteishat who is 
believed to be in Iraq, was tried in absentia and received a 
life sentence.  The court also convicted the defendants, who 
shouted "God is our protector and America is yours" during 
the sentencing, of conspiracy to carry out terrorist attacks 
and possessing illegal explosives with illicit intent. 
Defense attorney Hikmat Rawashdeh claimed the defendants 
confessed under torture and were denied legal representation 
during their interrogation.  He will appeal the verdicts. 
Arrested in February 2005, the group planned to target three 
luxury hotels frequented by tourists, General Intelligence 
Directorate (GID) officers, and tourist sites (refs E and F.) 
 
AL-MRAYAT CELL VERDICTS 
 
¶8. (U) On January 16, the SSC sentenced Abdullah al-Mrayat, 
28, to four years of hard labor for recruiting fighters to 
join the insurgency in Iraq.  Mrayat,s three co-defendants, 
Moaz al-Zohbi, Saleh al-Maghari, and Khaled al-Manhur, were 
acquitted for lack of proof.  The four men were indicted in 
September for planning to join insurgents in Iraq and 
recruiting fighters to attack Coalition forces, but pleaded 
not guilty at the start of their trial in October.  According 
to the prosecutor, Mrayat traveled to Syria in May 2005, 
intending to slip into Iraq to join the insurgency, but 
failed to make it across the border (ref E.) 
 
BORDER INFILTRATORS SENTENCED 
 
¶9. (U) On March 8, the SSC handed down sentences, ranging 
from 20 months to 15 years hard labor, to 11 defendants for 
infiltrating the border with Syria to join insurgents 
fighting against coalition forces in Iraq.  The defendants 
were arrested in July 2005 after they returned to Jordan from 
Syria, having failed to enter Iraq.  Five members of this 
cell remain at large (ref F.) 
 
VERDICTS AGAINST MUSA RAMADAN AND MAHMUD SA'DAH 
 
¶10. (U) In late January the SSC sentenced Musa Ramadan, 23, 
and Mundir Mahmud Sa'dah, 24, to four-year prison terms for 
plotting attacks against Americans and liquor stores. 
Ramadan, arrested in the Syrian city of Homs and extradited 
to Jordan in July 2004, allegedly traveled to Syria to join 
fighters headed for Iraq (ref E.) 
 
BREIZAT CELL - JIPTC PLOT CASE CONTINUES 
 
¶11. (SBU) The SSC indicted four suspects on March 6 for 
conspiracy with intent to carry out terrorist attacks in 
Jordan.  In addition, the defendants were charged with the 
acquisition of automatic and unlicensed weaponry. 
Prosecutors called for the maximum penalty of 15 years.  The 
suspects - Ma,adh Breizat, Ibrahim Jahawha, Faisal Rweidan 
and Obada Hiyari - allegedly followed American instructors at 
the Jordan International Police Training Center (JIPTC) to a 
house near the U.S. Embassy in Amman in August 2005, and 
inspected a potential ambush site on the road used by U.S. 
and other trainers to travel to and from JIPTC.  The 
suspects, under arrest since September 2005, claimed that 
their testimonies were derived under duress (refs F and G.) 
 
KHATTAB BRIGADE - CYANIDE CASE CONTINUES 
 
¶12. (U) On March 20, four men standing trial for plotting to 
use cyanide to kill bar owners and patrons, and to attack 
Americans, retracted their confessions, claiming they were 
extracted under duress.  The defendants' lawyer Hikmat 
Rawashdeh argued during his closing remarks that, "Most 
Jordanians wish to fight Americans and Israelis and I am one 
of them.  Should I be punished for this intention?  If this 
is the case then the authorities should punish the entire 
Jordanian population."  The four defendants - Hamdi Ahmad 
Abdallah Ali, 23; Lu'ay Hisham abd-al Qadi al Sharif, 25; 
Muhammad Hasan Uqlah al Umri, 24; and Muhammad Awdah al Ali - 
were arrested in mid-September 2005.  Two other defendants, 
Usama Amin al Shihabi and Haytham Abd al Karim are being 
tried in absentia on the same charges (ref F.) 
 
MILLENNIUM PLOT VERDICTS CHALLENGED 
 
¶13. (U) On January 16, the SSC upheld sentences against four 
Millennium plotters and acquitted two others.  Denying their 
fourth appeal, the SSC confirmed death sentences against 
Khodr Abu Hoshar and Osama Samar, who were first indicted in 
September 2000 for plotting poison gas attacks against 
American and Israeli tourists during Jordan,s millennium 
celebration in 1999.  The SSC also upheld life sentences 
against Khaled Mughamess and Saeed Hijazi.  Ismail Khatib and 
Raed Bdeir, who were initially sentenced to 10 years in 
prison, were acquitted. 
 
FOLEY ASSASSINS EXECUTED 
 
¶14. (U) Jordanian authorities executed Libyan national Yasser 
Saad bin Suway, 43, and Yasser Fateh Furayhat, 31, on March 
11 for the October 2002 assassination of USAID officer 
Lawrence Foley (ref H).  Of the eleven men charged for 
Foley,s murder, Suwayd and Furayhat are the only two that 
have been executed.  One was acquitted, two others are 
serving prison sentences, and six others, including Abu 
Mus'ab al-Zarqawi, were sentenced to death in absentia. 
Muammar Jaghbir, one of the six originally sentenced to death 
in absentia, is currently being retried (ref F.) 
 
E-THREATS PROSECUTED 
 
¶15. (U) On March 6, the SSC continued proceedings in the case 
of Yousef Daghastani, a Syrian accused of threatening to 
carry out terror attacks following the November 2005, hotel 
bombings in Amman.  In late November 2005, Daghastani 
threatened more bloodshed and a resumption of terrorist 
attacks on a popular internet forum from an internet caf in 
Zarqa.  He also demanded a 1.41 million Jordanian dinar 
ransom, and the release of the failed female suicide bomber, 
Sajida al Rishawi.  According to the prosecution charge 
sheet, Daghastani,s user name was "911" and his password 
"blood."  Daghastani is not the first Jordanian prosecuted 
for threatening terror via the internet.  In May 2005, the 
SSC sentenced Murad Khaled al Assidah, also from Zarqa, to 
two and a half years for e-mailing bomb threats to GID 
officers. 
HALE