UAE hands Jordan one Islamist for targeting Israeli and US interests
Jordan-United Arab Emirates, Local, 4/13/2005

A Jordanian judicial source said that the United Arab Emirates (UAE) handed Amman a Jordanian citizen, tried in absentia within 16 Islamists, accused of preparing "terrorist acts" against the American and Israeli interests in Jordan.

The attorney general of the state security, col. Mahmoud Obeidat, added in a notification to the state security court that the accused man Khaled Fawzi al-Bashtawi was handed over to the Jordanian authorities from its UAE counterpart after he was arrested on April 7th.

Obeidat said that according to the law of the country, al-Bashtawi will be retried after investigations are completed with him and notifying him of the charges against him. The accusation indicates "that conspiracy with the aim to carry out terrorist acts and owning unlicensed weapons."

The court started trying al-Bashtawi and a group of accused Islamists under the charge of planning since 2001 to carry out military operations in Jordan targeting the American and Israeli interests and the assassination of several persons.

The accused persons were Abd al- Tahlawi; Ahmad al-Ameri; Ahmad Qaraani; Muhammad Yassin al- Bash; Saber Muhammad Saber; Muhammad Khuder Saadeh; Muhammad Shalaan, Imad eddine Ahmad Ali; Ahmad Bashir Jaradat; Abdullah Muhammad al-Maanai; Hussein Abdullah Shehadah; Muhammad Ahmad al-Manaserah; Muhammad al-Hourani; Abdullah al-Shumarri and Ahmad al-Deek.

The accusation states that al-Tahawi issued Fatwa demanding his partners to prepare to carry out attacks against the embassies of the US and Israel and American archeologists working in northern Jordan and against Israeli tourists.

A judicial source said that the accused man al-Tahawi "embraced the Takfir (holding others as non believers) since his early childhood and met with several Mujahideen in 1986. He also received training on various types of weapons, noting that he was detained in 1990 in Saudi Arabia because of "holding the Saudi regime as composed of non-believers."

Worthy mentioning that 15 of the detained persons were arrested in August and September 2004 and are facing death penalty or imprisonment for 15 years if they are found guilty.

Previous Stories:
  Four accused persons deny planning to launch attacks in Jordan   (2/22/2005)
  Jordan: Some 13 persons found not guilty   (12/28/2004)
  Jordanian King confers with UAE President   (3/17/2003)

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