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| By: Associated Press |
| Published: March 16, 2006 |
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Four militants called on al-Qaida's leader in Iraq to "slaughter" U.S. forces when they appeared in court Wednesday for the start of their trial on plotting terror attacks.
"Abu Musab, where are you?" the militants chanted in the dock, referring to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the head of al-Qaida in Iraq.
"Where are these American dogs?" they said of the U.S. forces in Iraq. "Let (al-Zarqawi) slaughter you and the Italians like sheep." Italian troops are serving in the U.S.-led multinational force in Iraq.
The four militants, who had the long beards favored by Islamic fundamentalists and wore blue prison uniforms, were part of eight defendants charged in the military State Security Court with conspiring to kill Israelis and U.S. military personnel in Jordan and Iraq.
Three others are standing trial in absentia and are believed to be abroad. The eighth is thought to have surrendered to Jordanian authorities last month, but did not attend the start of the trial.
The court adjourned the trial to next Wednesday to hear the defendants' pleas.
Some of the defendants are accused of attempting to harm Jordan's relations with the United States and Iraq by planning to attack U.S. forces in Iraq and the American military soldiers who train Iraqi police recruits at a desert camp in Jordan.
The indictment said they also planned to target Israelis in Jordan, but it did not specify whether they were tourists or diplomats.
The indictment said the militants belonged to a group called "Al-Taa'efa al-Mansourah," or the Victorious Sect, which was formed in 2003 by Ahmad Shabaneh, a 37-year-old native of the Gaza Strip.
Shabaneh, who was one of the four in court, was described as the mastermind of the plots and an efficient operator. He is alleged to have distributed leaflets and computer discs containing al-Zarqawi's speeches. He also allegedly contacted militants in Syria, seeking help to train his cell members in making explosives and firing weapons.
The indictment did not say whether the group was linked to al-Zarqawi or any other terrorist organization, but it said Shabaneh was influenced by al-Zarqawi's ideology. |
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