Jordan's military court condemns nine men to death, including al-Zarqawi скачать в хорошем качестве

Jordan's military court condemns nine men to death, including al-Zarqawi

(15 Feb 2006) 1. Close up of sign, tilt down to door to the court 2. Defendants walk into cage inside court 3. Judge walking into court 4. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) no name given, president of the court: "First, the criminal Azmi al-Jayousi is hereby sentenced as follows: first, he has been sentenced to 15 years imprisonment with hard labour, under Article 148 (1). Second, he has been sentenced to death by hanging under Article 12(2). Third, he has been sentenced to 15 years imprisonment with hard labour under Articles 3 & 12(2). Fourth, he has been sentenced to death under Article 11(a) of the Firearms Law. The harshest sentence is to be applied, namely death by hanging." 5. People standing around defendants +++MUTE+++ 6. Close up of defendants inside cage STORYLINE: A military court in Amman on Wednesday condemned to death nine men, including the leader of al-Qaida in Iraq - Abu Musab al-Zarqawi - for plotting a chemical attack that would have killed thousands of people in the Jordanian capital. At least four of the condemned men, including Al-Zarqawi, were not present and received their death sentences in absentia. The 13 men - Jordanian, Syrian and Palestinians - were charged with conspiring to attack various sites in Jordan by setting off a cloud of toxic chemicals that would have killed thousands of people, according to prosecution estimates. The accused screamed that the al-Qaida terror network was on the rise and accused the judges of being tyrants. The three judges picked up their papers and walked out, leaving the defendants shouting. It was the third death penalty that Jordanian courts have handed down to al-Zarqawi, who runs the most notorious insurgent group in Iraq. The plot's alleged mastermind, Azmi al-Jayousi, and four co-defendants were in the dock when the judge condemned them to death for the 2004 plot, which security officials foiled before it could be carried out. The judge sentenced two of the 13 defendants to prison terms of between one and three years, and acquitted another two defendants. The prosecution told the court that al-Zarqawi sent more than 118-thousand US dollars to buy two vehicles which the plotters were to use in the attack. Suicide bombers were to drive the vehicles, loaded with explosives and chemicals, into the grounds of the General Intelligence Department in Amman and detonate them. The plot also planned to attack the US Embassy, the prime minister's office, and various intelligence and military court officials. The indictment said that when investigators conducted an experiment with small amounts of the chemicals found with the defendants, they found it produced "a strong explosion and a poison cloud that spread over an area of 500 square metres (yards)." From the geographical data that mastermind al-Jayousi, a Jordanian, had collected, it appeared he aimed to kill thousands of people in the chemical attack, the indictment said. Eight of the defendants were accused of belonging to a previously unknown group, "Kata'eb al-Tawhid" or Battalions of Monotheism, which security officials say is headed by al-Zarqawi and linked to al-Qaida. The eight were also charged with conspiring to commit acts of terrorism and possession and manufacture of explosives. Previously, Jordan's military courts have condemned al-Zarqawi to death in absentia for the 2002 assassination of US diplomat Lawrence Foley in Amman, and for a failed suicide attack on the Jordanian-Iraqi border in 2004. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...