Jordan Times
Tuesday, August 23, 2005
Key Aqaba attacker arrested
AMMAN (JT) — Security forces on Monday announced the arrest of the prime suspect
in the rocket attack that missed US warships docked in Aqaba, but killed a
Jordanian soldier on Friday.
In a statement carried by the Jordan News Agency, Petra, security forces said
they arrested Syrian Mohammad Hassan Abdullah Sihli, an Amman resident, who was
described as the “key element” in a four-member gang linked to an unnamed
terrorist organisation based in Iraq.
The others were Sihli's two sons Abdullah and Abdul Rahman in addition to Iraqi
Mohammad Hmeid Hassan, known as Abu Mukhtar and was identified as the group's
leader, according the statement.
The three men came to Jordan from Iraq through the Karameh crossing earlier on
August 6, using fake passports.
Abdullah Sihli visited the Kingdom last year for treatment from a shrapnel wound
before heading back to Iraq.
On their way to Jordan, they drove a grey Mercedes 300, whose gas tank was
adjusted to hide seven Katyusha rockets and their accessories.
The three then joined Mohammad Sihli and headed to Aqaba for surveillance of
“vital targets” between August 6 and 18 after receiving orders from the
terrorist group in Iraq to carry out the attack in Aqaba.
The group rented a warehouse in the Harafiyeh District of Aqaba and transported
the rockets from Amman to Aqaba.
The warehouse was rented to four Egyptians and Iraqis early last week, police
said.
The rockets were fitted with timing devices and primed to be fired on Friday
morning, allowing the suspects to make their escape back to Iraq, the statement
said.
Three rockets missed US warships in Aqaba but one hit a warehouse killing the
Jordanian soldier while another struck over the border with Israel.
An official told Agence France-Presse on Saturday that police had seized four
rockets at a warehouse and the assailants were believed to have planned to use a
total of seven rockets.
An Al Qaeda-linked group called the Abdullah Azzam Brigades claimed
responsibility for Friday's attack.