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| Middle East |
| Three Jordanian Islamists sentenced to death |
| 2003-04-29 |
| Three Jordanian Islamists were sentenced to death by the state security court Tuesday for plotting the assassination of a senior security official in the capital in February 2002. They were Mohamad Arafat, 22, arrested in April last year, and Mustafa Siam and Ahed Khreissat, who were tried in their absence. A fourth defendant, Mohamad Jamil, 32, who was also arrested a year ago, had a death sentence commuted immediately to hard labour for life. Two more, Moawiya Nabulsi, 25, and Ali Nassar, 21, were sentenced to prison terms of two years and one year respectively. The six were charged in May with plotting terrorist actions, and manufacturing and possessing explosives. The arrests and charges followed a bomb attack on February 28 last year against the head of the anti-terrorist section of the Jordanian intelligence services, Ali Burjak. The time-bomb exploded behind Burjak's car parked outside his Amman home, killing an Egyptian and an Iraqi who were working in a nearby cafe. It was the first such deadly attack in Jordan for more than 10 years, and a source close to the inquiry said those behind it acted spontaneously and were not linked to a larger organisation. On pronouncement of sentence by the chief judge, Colonel Fawaz al-Bukur, the four defendants present shouted "Allahu Akhbar" (God is greater) and "You are unjust" at the judges. Arafat and Jamil were alleged to have received military training from Muslim fundamentalists during several years spent in Afghanistan. They fought for the Taliban who seized control of Kabul in 1996, and returned to Jordan at the end of 2001. |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |