Jordan Times
Tuesday, December 21, 2004
Verdict on Abu Sayyaf case
postponed until next week
By Rana Husseini
AMMAN — The State Security Court on Monday postponed, for the fourth time,
issuing a verdict in the case of 15 men standing trial for plotting subversive
acts in the Kingdom until next week.
"The tribunal decided to postpone the case because some of the defendants were
not brought to the courtroom and some of the attorneys failed to come to court
today," a senior judicial source said.
The source told The Jordan Times that "most probably the court would designate
next Sunday or Monday to issue its verdict."
The defendants, including the main suspect in the case, Mohammad Shalabi, better
known as Abu Sayyaf, are charged with possessing 40 handgrenades and detonators
with the intent of using them in an attack against the American embassy in Amman
and officers of the General Intelligence Department.
They are also charged with the illegal possession of explosives.
Three of the 15 defendants are Saudi nationals and are being tried in absentia
on the same charges.
According to the charge sheet, the defendants had originally planned to travel
to Afghanistan to engage in jihad, or holy war, following the Sept. 11 attacks
against the US, but later changed their minds and decided to attack American
targets in Jordan. However, the authorities apprehended the defendants before
they carried out any of their alleged plans.