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Jordan to Charge 17 in Alleged Chemical Weapons Plot
Jordan is set to file charges this week against 17 militants in connection with a foiled chemical attack plot against the U.S. Embassy, the Jordanian prime minister’s office and other sites in the country, Reuters reported (see GSN, April 30). The 17 include four militants killed in clashes with Jordanian forces in April (Reuters/Yahoo!News, Aug. 1). Jordanian authorities announced three arrests on Sunday, bringing the number of militants in police custody to nine, the Associated Press reported. The four remaining suspects, including reported al-Qaeda ally Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, are to be tried in absentia. The militants were all affiliated with a previously unknown group called Kata’eb al-Tawhid — “the Battalions of Monotheism” — that has been linked to al-Qaeda, according to Jordanian officials. Azmi al-Jayousi, the alleged mastermind of the Jordan-based cell, has confessed to the plot, which would have been al-Qaeda’s first chemical attack, the officials added (Jamal Halaby, Associated Press/Bradenton Herald, Aug. 1). “The charge list will be sent very soon to the military prosecutor to be formally issued against the defendants,” a security source told Reuters, adding that the trial could start as soon as September. The defendants are set to stand trial on several charges including “conspiracy to carry out terrorist acts” against Jordanian intelligence headquarters and U.S. interests in the country, according to Reuters The suspects could receive the death penalty if convicted of the principal charges, a judicial source said.
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