Jordan Times
Sunday, September 25, 2006
Jaaoura trial to begin soon
By Rana Husseini
AMMAN — The trial of Jordanian Nabil Ahmad Issa
Jaaoura, who reportedly killed one British tourist and injured six others in a
shooting at the Roman Amphitheatre in Amman earlier this month, is expected to
open soon at the State Security Court, a judicial source said.
The state prosecutor officially charged Jaaoura, 38, with carrying out terrorist
attacks, causing the death of one person, and possessing an unlicensed gun, the
source said.
“The trial is expected to open at the State Security Court either next week or
the week after,” the source told The Jordan Times.
If convicted, the suspect could face the death penalty.
According to the charge sheet, Jaaoura, who lost two of his brothers during
Israeli attacks on Lebanon in 1982, had been plotting to attack tourists in the
country for the past five years.
He met an Egyptian man named Ismail, who convinced him “it was necessary to pray
and wage jihad (holy war),” the charge sheet said.
From that moment, Jaaoura plotted to “kill foreigners to avenge the death of his
two brothers in Lebanon and bought a gun five years ago,” the charge sheet
added.
He monitored several areas in Amman.. but would change his mind every time
because of the security presence, the charge sheet added.
Jaaoura claimed that the “Israeli aggression against Lebanon in August” pushed
him to carry out his plans, court documents said.
On Sept. 4, he bid farewell to his wife and five children and headed downtown
with a loaded gun. He waited for an hour until he saw a group of tourists in the
area, according to the charge sheet.
He walked towards them and fired at their backs, killing one and injuring six
others before being overpowered by a tourist policeman, the charge sheet added.
Jaaoura, a Ruseifa resident, was quoted in the charge sheet as saying that “he
waited 20 years until his children were older to commit his crime.”
Shortly after his arrest, government officials announced that he “worked alone
without connection to any organisation internally or externally” and the
incident “was not based on any type of ideology.”