Free Republic

AMMAN: Jordan’s state prosecutor on Sunday demanded death penalty for the Al Qaeda leader in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, and 11 other suspects accused of plotting a chemical bomb attack on intelligence services. “The prosecutor wrapped up his case in the trial by demanding the maximum penalty (death) for 12 suspects,” a judicial source told AFP. A 13th suspect is being accused of a misdemeanour in the trial, in which four of the suspects, including Zarqawi, are being tried in absentia. The nine suspects in the dock, including alleged ringleader Azmi Jayussi, and the fugitives are accused of plotting, on...

AMMAN, Jordan - Islamic militants planned to detonate an explosion that would have sent a cloud of toxic chemicals across Jordan, causing death, blindness and sickness, a chemical expert testified in a military court Wednesday. Col. Najeh al-Azam was giving evidence in the trial of 13 men who are alleged to have planned what would have been the world's first chemical attack by the al-Qaida terror group. The accused include al-Qaida's leader in Iraq, Abu-Musab Al-Zarqawi, and three other fugitives who are being tried in absentia. Jordanian security services foiled the plot in April last year. Jordanian officials say that...

AMMAN, Jordan (AP) - Al-Qaida plotted bombings and poison gas attacks against the U.S. Embassy and other targets in Jordan, two conspirators said in a confession aired Monday on Jordanian state television. Azmi al-Jayousi, identified as the head of the Jordanian cell of al-Qaida, appeared Monday in a 20-minute taped program and described meeting Jordanian militant Abu-Musab al-Zarqawi in neighboring Iraq to plan the foiled plot. A commentator said the plotters wanted to kill "80,000" Jordanians and had targeted the prime minister's office, intelligence headquarters and the U.S. Embassy. Another Jordanian suspect, car mechanic Hussein Sharif Hussein, was shown saying...