Jordanian court convicts 3 Muslim militants of conspiracy

AMMAN, Jordan -- The nephew of an Osama bin Laden lieutenant shouted "Allah will punish you, tyrants!" at military judges Monday after they sentenced him and two accomplices to three years of hard labor for conspiring to attack American and Israeli tourists in Jordan.

The court convicted the men of conspiring to attack Jordanian sights frequented by Americans and Israelis. The men were arrested a year ago, and no attacks were carried out.

Presiding judge Col. Fawaz Buqour said the cell's alleged mastermind, 19-year-old Omar Sayel al-Khalayleh, was influenced by the militant ideology of his uncle, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, a lieutenant of Osama bin Laden, the al-Qaida chief.

He did not say whether there was a direct link in the men's plot to al-Zarqawi, as prosecutors had alleged.

"Allah will punish you, tyrants!" al-Khalayleh shouted at the three judges after the verdict.

He and his co-defendants -- Hamza Mohammed Al-Momani, 20, and police Cpl. Ayman al-Khawaldeh, 25 -- yelled that Jordan was an "American spy" -- a common slogan among terror suspects who allege that Jordan is prosecuting them to boost its standing with the United States.

Western and Jordanian officials say al-Zarqawi, whose real name is Ahmad Fadhil al-Khalayleh, is a lieutenant of bin Laden. The United States has offered $10 million for information leading to the capture or killing of al-Zarqawi.

Buqour said through his relationship with al-Zarqawi, "the first defendant took up an ideology which regarded the ruling regime in the kingdom as infidel. He espoused jihad (holy war) in the Jordanian arena through attacking tourists."

All three denied all the charges against them.

Military prosecutor Lt. Col. Mahmoud Obeidat told the court that al-Khalayleh had received instructions from al-Zarqawi to attack Jordanian security officials, American and Israeli tourists and liquor stores across the kingdom. Islam does not permit alcohol.

In December 2002, al-Khalayleh met al-Momani to plan attacks on tourists, according to the indictment. Their primary target was the city of Ajloun, where tourists visit the Arab castle Qalat ar-Rabad, which was built in the 12th century to defend against the crusaders.

Al-Khawaldeh, the police corporal, stole two pistols from his station to use in the attacks, the indictment said. It said other weapons, including a bomb, were to be smuggled in from neighboring Syria, but the accused never had the chance to acquire them.

The principal target among Jordanians was intelligence officer Ali Burjak, a counterterrorism official known for investigating Islamic extremists. Burjak escaped a car bombing that killed two passers-by in February 2002. The accused were not charged in that attack.

When al-Zarqawi left Jordan for Afghanistan in 1999, he kept in touch with his nephew by phone, urging him to join al-Qaida-run camps and learn how to make bombs, the indictment said.

Al-Zarqawi is blamed for a terrorist plot that Jordan foiled and announced last month. Authorities say 10 suspects working under al-Zarqawi plotted to use chemicals and explosives to blow up Jordan's secret service agency, the prime minister's office and the U.S. Embassy.

Al-Zarqawi has been convicted of orchestrating the assassination of U.S. aid worker Laurence Foley in Amman in 2002. He was sentenced to death in absentia by the same military court last month.

In a separate hearing Monday, the same court found two other Jordanians of Palestinian origin guilty of planning to infiltrate Israel to mount armed attacks.

Buqour said Ali al-Omari, 28, and Alaa' al-Omari, 23, were convicted of illegally possessing machine guns and planning to launch attacks in Israel.

Buqour sentenced each to three years in jail, but he commuted the sentence to two years with hard labor, saying he wanted to give the men a "chance for self-improvement."

Court documents said the infiltration attempt involved four men, including the Omaris. But two -- including alleged mastermind Suleiman al-Sarhan -- were killed in a shootout with Jordanian border police who foiled the infiltration.