Jordan indicts al-Zarqawi

2004-10-17 21:52

Amman - Jordan's military prosecutor indicted 13 alleged militants on Sunday, including fugitive Abu-Musab al-Zarqawi, for an al-Qaeda linked plot to attack targets in Jordan with chemical and conventional weapons, government officials said Sunday.

Mahmoud Obeidat summoned the nine terror suspects who are in custody and read them the charges listed in the indictment, the officials told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.

They said the four at large, including al-Zarqawi, were also charged and would be tried in absentia.

Al-Zarqawi, the best-known figure indicted, is thought to be directing anti-US attacks and kidnappings in neighbouring Iraq, where he leads the Tawhid and Jihad group.

Security officials have said the plot targeted the Jordanian prime minister's office, the secret service agency, the US embassy in Jordan and other sites.

Azmi al-Jayousi, the alleged mastermind of the cell who was captured in April, has confessed to military prosecutors plans for a chemical attack, the officials said.

If convicted on all counts, defendants could be sentenced to death.

Security officials and, in televised confessions some of the detained suspects themselves, have said the plot was linked to Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network.

Besides the 13 suspects, four were killed in a police shootout on April 20, when the terror plot was uncovered and foiled with most members of the Jordanian cell arrested.

Al-Jayousi and some other suspects in detention had said in televised confessions that their terror plot was hatched and financed by al-Zarqawi.

US officials have offered a $25m reward for al-Zarqawi's capture.

Jordan, a key Arab ally of the United States and a peace partner to Israel, has been targeted by al-Qaeda and other terrorists.

- AP