Jordan Times
Wednesday, July 13, 2005
Five terror suspects go
on trial
By Rana Husseini
AMMAN — The trial of five Jordanian men, charged
with plotting attacks against hotels, tourists and General Intelligence
Department (GID) officers in 2005, opened at the State Security Court (SSC) on
Tuesday.
The prosecution charge sheet identified the defendants as Osama Abu Hazeem, 23,
Hatem Ensour, 20, Mohammad Arabiat, 24, and Yazan Haliq, 24.
The fifth defendant, Mohammad Qteishat, is at large and will be tried in
absentia, according to the five-page charge sheet prepared by military
prosecutor Mahmoud Obeidat.
The men face charges of conspiracy to carry out terrorist attacks and possession
of illegal explosives with illicit intent.
The tribunal adjourned the session until Aug. 2 to allow Ensour time to appoint
a lawyer to represent him in the case.
The three other defendants informed the court that they had appointed defence
lawyer Mutassem Abu Ruman to represent them in the case.
The charge sheet said all five defendants were friends. Haliq went to Syria in
1999 to study there and met Al Miqdad Dabbas in 2001 who introduced him to
contacts who would help him infiltrate into Iraq and fight there.
Abu Hazeem, who went to Syria in 2003, also met Dabbas who provided him with an
e-mail address of a person who would facilitate his entry into Iraq to fight
there, the charge sheet added.
Dabbas was convicted and sentenced to three years in prison in March 2005 by the
SSC for plotting subversive acts against Jordanian targets in Iraq with Abu
Mussab Zarqawi.
When Abu Hazeem returned to Jordan he asked Ensour and Arabiat to join him, the
charge sheet added.
Ensour then infiltrated into Iraq in mid-2003 where he met up with Qteishat and
they trained on the use of weapons, explosives and detonators, the charge sheet
added.
Ensour and Qteishat decided to target tourists visiting the Kingdom, and smuggle
detonators and explosives into Jordan in July 2004, according to the charge
sheet.
In September 2004, Abu Hazeem went to Syria and received training on explosives
and also managed to smuggle detonators when he returned to the Kingdom the same
month, the charge sheet said.
In January 2005, Haliq went to Lebanon and received training on the use of guns,
machineguns and explosives, then returned to the Kingdom, said the charge sheet.
The group then decided to target three luxury hotels frequented by tourists, GID
officers, the charge sheet added.
The four men were arrested in February 2005 before carrying out any of their
alleged plans, the charge sheet said.