Jordan sentences four to death on terrorism charges

Dec 7, 2006, 12:11 GMT

Amman - Jordan's State Security Court (SSC) on Thursday sentenced four suspects to death after finding them guilty for a rocket attack in the Red Sea port of Aqaba in August 2005, judicial sources said.

The four, three Syrians and an Iraqi, were among 12 defendants charged with masterminding the operation that targeted a US warship which was docking at the Jordanian port on August 19, 2005, when the rockets were fired.

Five other defendants were served prison terms, while three were acquitted in the court verdict.

The rockets missed the warship, but hit a Jordanian army warehouse, killing one soldier.

The SSC decided to hang Syrian national Mohammad Hassan al-Sahli, who was present in the courtroom when the presiding judge read out the verdict. Al-Sahli has been living in Jordan for 20 years, judicial sources said.

Two of his relatives - Abdul Rahman al-Sahli and Abdullah al-Sahli - were sentenced to death along with the network's leader, the Iraqi Ammar Samerrai, they added.

The three managed to escape to Iraq after smuggling seven Katyusha rockets in a car's fuel tank.

The tribunal also sentenced three Iraqis in absentia to 10 years in jail with hard labour. Two detained suspects - a Jordanian and a Syrian - were sentenced to two years in jail while the SSC acquitted three sons of Mohammad Hassan al-Sahli.

The 12 people had been charged with committing attacks that undermined relations with a foreign country, conspiracy to commit terrorist acts and the unlicensed possession and use of arms.