Jordan Times
Monday, March 22, 2004
Foley verdict to be issued Wednesday
By Rana Husseini
AMMAN, March 22 - The State Security Court set Wednesday as the date to issue a verdict in the case of 11 men charged with assassinating an American diplomat in October 2002, according to a senior judicial source.
“The military tribunal has finished reviewing the case and contacted the defendants' lawyers to inform them that March 24 was designated to issue a verdict,” the source said.
Six of the 11 men are standing trial in absentia for plotting to assassinate USAID diplomat Laurence Foley, 62, outside his Amman home on Oct. 28, 2002.
The defendants include the prime suspect in the case, Salem Ben Suwayyed, a Libyan national, who is charged by the prosecution with shooting Foley in front of his house on the morning of Oct. 28.
The defendants, all of whom pleaded not guilty during their opening trial in July 2003 claiming to have been tortured while in detention, are also accused of possessing illegal weapons with illicit intent.
The prosecutor said the group began targeting American and Jewish interests in 1997. The charge sheet added that the group also targeted General Intelligence Department officers.
The prosecution also referred to Ahmad Khalayleh, also known as Abu Musab Zarqawi, a top Al Qaeda figure, who is one of the six men being tried in absentia.
The prosecution said Zarqawi, who is wanted in Jordan for another terrorist case, managed to infiltrate into the Kingdom before the incident, recruiting 11 people to launch terrorist operations in Jordan.
The charge sheet added that he supported them financially by giving them $60,000, and provided them with machineguns, silencers, teargas pipes, gloves and a vehicle to use in their terrorist operations.