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Jordan upholds convictions of 8 militants
A military court on Sunday upheld the conviction of eight Jordanian militants for possessing explosives, and government officials said a man considered the spiritual mentor of terror mastermind Abu-Musab al-Zarqawi was freed earlier in the week. The eight were among 11 militants charged with possessing explosives and conspiring to commit terrorist acts against the U.S. Embassy in Amman and Jordanian military bases near the eastern Iraqi border. The 11 men, including three Saudis tried in absentia, were sentenced to prison terms ranging from 7 1/2 to 15 years for possessing explosives in a trial that ended Dec. 27, 2004. They were acquitted of the conspiracy charge for lack of evidence. On Sunday, the military judges upheld the verdicts against the Jordanians. "This court insists on its previous ruling," said Col. Fawaz Buqour as the eight defendants shouted from the dock the Islamic battle cry of "Allahu akbar," or God is great. Defense lawyer Hamad Emoush said he will appeal. In a related development, a man considered the mentor of al-Zarqawi, the chief of al-Qaida in Iraq, was freed from jail on Tuesday, government officials said Sunday, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue. Isam al-Barqawi had been acquitted by the same court that sentenced the 11 militants in December, but he remained in jail without explanation. The government officials who announced al-Barqawi's release declined to provide other details on the militant who shared al-Zarqawi's jail block for four years, between March 1995 and 1999. Both men were then freed under a general amnesty issued by Jordan's King Abdullah II. Al-Barqawi, also known as Abu-Mohammed al-Maqdisi, was later detained for another case, while al-Zarqawi left Jordan, the officials said. Al-Barqawi lead prayers and issued directives to al-Zarqawi when both were in jail, said ex-con Yousef al-Rababaa, who was imprisoned with both men for three years in a separate matter. From his cell in Jordan al-Barqawi wrote to al-Zarqawi last October asking al-Qaida's point man in Iraq to "spare the blood of fighters and Muslim money" until a more appropriate time to wage an all-out war. Al-Barqawi's message was posted on the Internet. Al-Rababaa and another prisoner familiar with al-Barqawi's writing style said the text could be attributed to him.
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