Jordan Times
Thursday, February 15, 2007
Defendants deny links to Hamas
By Rana Husseini
AMMAN — Two of three Jordanians accused of plotting terror attacks in the
Kingdom on behalf of Hamas on Wednesday asked the State Security Court (SSC) to
summon two Hamas leaders as well as Jordanian officials to testify in their
trial.
Musa Abdullat, the lawyer of Ayman Naji Hamadallah, 34, and Ahmad Abu Rabieh,
27, asked the SSC to summon Hamas leaders Khaled Mishaal and Moayyad Hamdan,
Jordanian businessman Sami Khouri, who was targeted by the group according to
the prosecution, and directors of several media institutions and journalists.
Abdullat told the tribunal he wanted to summon these officials to testify on
statements his clients made to security forces and in court.
Ahmad Abu Diab’s lawyer asked the court to give him more time to list his
defence witnesses.
The court decided to adjourn the session until March 13 to reach a decision on
Abdullat’s request.
Earlier in the session, the three defendants denied any links to the Palestinian
Resistance Movement, claiming they were subjected to torture and duress to admit
they were part of Hamas.
The three defendants are charged with conspiracy to carry out terrorist acts and
illegal possession of explosives and weapons.
The three defendants, who pleaded not guilty to the charges in December,
appeared on Jordan television last May and confessed to plotting to kill senior
officials in the intelligence services.
Yesterday, they maintained their innocence and claimed that they were forced to
admit to plotting attacks and being part of Hamas on TV, while their confessions
in front of investigators were fabricated.
They told the tribunal that they did not plot to attack anyone and had no
intentions of launching attacks in Jordan.
Also Wednesday, a 19-year-old Jordanian, standing trial on charges of recruiting
men to join the Iraqi insurgency, pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Hamzeh Nawisheh, and two other men who remain at large, Mohammad Hajjaj and
Abdullah Fasfous, are charged with plotting acts that would undermine Jordan’s
relations with another country and subjecting the Kingdom to hostile acts.
Nawisheh told the court he wished to present a new statement because his
statement in front of investigators was incorrect.
The court agreed and adjourned the session until next Wednesday.
The indictment said Nawisheh met a Saudi, identified only as Abu Ahmad, in Syria
in June 2006 and they decided to recruit men to
fight in Iraq.
Nawisheh returned to Jordan and recruited several men, including the second and
third defendants, and sent them to Abu Ahmad, who secured their entry into Iraq,
according to the charge sheet.