Jordan Times
Thursday, April 28, 2005
Hidden messages
discovered on bank notes, expert tells court
By Rana Husseini
AMMAN — A security expert told the State Security Court on Wednesday that Syrian
bank notes found in the possession of the defendants standing trial contained
secret messages written in invisible ink.
The 13 defendants, including Jordanian fugitive Abu Mussab Zarqawi, are standing
trial on charges of plotting the first-ever Al Qaeda chemical attack in the
Kingdom last year.
General Intelligence Department expert Major Issam Bashir told the tribunal he
examined two Syrian bank notes (5 and 100 Syrian pounds) given to him by the
prosecution.
“I used a special machine to decipher the messages, and in one of the notes I
read a line that said: `We are sending you Jordanian and Syrian passports. Is
this better than the Jordanian identification cards'?” the witness said.
The second note, Bashir said, contained the following statements: “Were all the
vehicles in your possession burnt? Do you need new cars to continue the mission?
Find easier targets so that you can succeed.”
Other statements included instructions on “conducting the mission safely without
any risks so that our efforts are not wasted,” Bashir said.
The messages also included a request by the writer of the bank note to keep him
posted of all the details so that he could find the appropriate solutions, the
witness added.
The prosecution has charged that the bank notes were found in the possession of
the defendants when they were arrested.
Also taking the witness stand yesterday was Captain Jaffar Mohammad from the
Public Security Department (PSD), who told the court he raided the house of the
main defendant in the case, Azmi Jaiousi, with a police team.
“Jaiousi was not present but we found fireworks, a computer, some CDs and three
printers,” Mohammad said.
The group is also charged with possessing and manufacturing explosives with
illicit intent, and possessing an automatic weapon with the intent to use it
illegally.
The men are also charged with belonging to an illegal organisation, Kataeb Al
Tawhid (Battalions of Monotheism), which is believed to be linked to Al Qaeda,
sheltering a wanted person and possessing unlicensed guns.
The prosecution charge sheet said Jaiousi met Zarqawi in Afghanistan in 1999,
and received training on the manufacture of explosives and detonators.
Jaiousi recruited the defendants and they plotted to target the GID, the Prime
Ministry and the American embassy in Amman using cars laden with chemicals and
explosives, but their plans were foiled by the authorities last year, the charge
sheet said.
Four other men believed to be part of the group were killed in a shoot-out in an
Amman neighbourhood last year.
The tribunal adjourned the trial until next Wednesday to continue hearing more
prosecution witnesses.