Middle East News
Suspected al-Qaeda leader denies terror charges in Jordanian court
Sep 20, 2006, 15:36 GMT
Amman - An alleged leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq on Wednesday pleaded 'not guilty' to charges of terrorism before Jordan's State Security Court (SSC), judicial sources said.
Iraq-born Ziyad Khalaf Karbouli and 13 co-accused, who are still at large, are accused of carrying out acts of terrorism, of possessing explosives for illegal use and of belonging to an illegal group.
The accused allegedly formed part of the Jihad and Tawhid Brigades, formerly led by Jordan-born terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, who was killed in a US airstrike inside Iraq on June 7.
Karbouli, 23, appeared on state-run Jordan television shortly after his arrest in May and confessed to have killed a Jordanian truck driver in September last year and having abducted two Moroccan diplomats on their way from Amman to Baghdad.
The Jordanian authorities then described Karbouli as a 'leading al-Qaeda operative' working as an Iraqi customs official.
Karbouli has denied the prosecution's claim that he was captured inside Iraq in a joint operation by the Jordanian Army and intelligence services on May 10.
He instead told the tribunal that he was kidnapped from Lebanon on May 6.
The trial was adjourned until October 4, judicial sources said.
© 2006 dpa - Deutsche Presse-AgenturCOMMENT
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