Jordan Times
Thursday, February 1, 2007
Prosecution asks court to convict Karbouli on all charges
By Rana Husseini
AMMAN — The State Security Court (SSC) prosecutor
on Wednesday asked the tribunal to convict Ziyad Khalaf Karbouli and 13 other
suspects, accused of murdering a Jordanian citizen in Iraq in 2005, on all
charges.
Karbouli and the 13 suspects, who are being tried in absentia, are charged with
plotting subversive acts that led to the death of an individual, possessing
explosives with illicit intent and belonging to an illegal organisation (Tawhid
and Jihad) affiliated to Al Qaeda network in Iraq.
Karbouli, 32, appeared on Jordan Television in May 2006 and confessed to
shooting Khaled Dasouqi, a driver who worked on the Baghdad-Amman highway, and
kidnapping two Moroccan diplomats in Iraq last year.
Karbouli, described as a local leader of Al Qaeda “in charge of war bounties” in
the Iraqi town of Rutba near the border with Jordan, also confessed to
kidnapping a senior Iraqi official and looting trucks heading to Iraq from
Jordan, according to the charge sheet.
The tribunal adjourned the session until February 14, to allow the defence time
to present its closing arguments.
Also on Wednesday, a security witness told the SSC that he examined a machinegun
found in the possession of two men accused of plotting to kill Americans in the
country and found it operational.
Mohammad Hussein Shehadeh, 25, a Jordanian, and Kuwaiti-born Mohammad Samih
Hotari, 25, are accused of plotting to carry out terrorist attacks in the
Kingdom and possessing an unlicensed automatic weapon for illicit purposes.
A second security officer told the court he searched Hotari’s house and seized a
machinegun and computer discs.
During the session, Hotari retracted his previous confession in front of the
authorities and claimed he was subjected to torture and duress to confess.
He asked the court to allow him time to present a new testimony.
Shehadeh also claimed that his confession was not true and asked the tribunal
for time to prepare a new testimony.
The tribunal agreed and adjourned the session until next Wednesday.