Jordan Times
Thursday, April 27, 2006
Accused plead not guilty
to Aqaba rocket attacks
The six are part of a group of 12 people charged with firing rockets at two
US warships in Aqaba last August
By Rana Husseini and agencies
AMMAN — Six men standing trial at the State
Security Court charged with firing rockets at two US warships in Aqaba last
August pleaded not guilty during their opening trial on Wednesday.
The six are part of a group of 12 people charged with conspiracy to commit
terrorist acts and the possession and use of explosives. They were also charged
with committing acts that undermine relations with a foreign country.
The defendants present in court all pleaded not guilty. The other six accused
remain at large.
During the short 10-minute hearing, the lawyer for the alleged ringleader,
Syrian Mohammad Hassan Sahli, 53, told the tribunal his client did not carry out
the attacks.
“We have nothing to do with those who fired on the frigate,” Ghaleb Suleiman
said.
The lawyer for four other defendants, Samih Khreis, repeated the same plea.
Defence lawyer Hikmat Rawashdeh also said his “clients had nothing to do with
firing the missiles on the US warship.”
The court immediately adjourned the session until May 10.
According to the prosecution, the defendants fitted the rockets with the timing
devices and placed them in a warehouse in Aqaba to be launched on Aug. 18
against two US warships docked in the port.
Four rockets malfunctioned and the remaining three missed their targets, killing
a Jordanian soldier who was guarding a government hospital.
The prosecution also said the 12 defendants planned to attack the US and Israeli
embassies in Amman and the Israeli port city of Eilat, under the instructions of
an Iraqi national named Abu Fahd.
The charge sheet said two of the defendants, Sahli and his brother Abdul Rahman
Abdullah, 52, smuggled the seven rockets and timing devices into Jordan from
Iraq.
In an Internet statement, Abu Mussab Zarqawi's group claimed responsibility for
the attacks. Zarqawi, who has been handed three death sentences in absentia for
terrorist offences, was not listed in the 12-page charge sheet.
The defendants present in court yesterday also included Sahli's three sons
Yasser, 30, Bilal, 24, and Baraa, 24, all Syrian nationals, and Sameh Nobani,
22, a Saudi citizen residing in Jordan.
The remaining six defendants at large are Amar Samerai, Abdul Halim Dalimi,
Hamid Dalimi and Hussam Dalimi, all Iraqi nationals, and Syrians Abdul Ruhman
Sahli and his brother Abdullah.