AMMAN, 27 April 2006 — Six defendants, five Syrians and a Jordanian, yesterday pleaded “innocent” to three charges related to a rocket attack that targeted a US warship at the Red Sea port of Aqaba on Aug. 19, according to judicial sources.
“We are not guilty,” the suspects told Jordan’s State Security Court (SSC) at the outset of their trial. The six defendants are attending the trial while another six, two Syrians and four Iraqis, are still at large and are being tried in absentia.
According to the indictment statement, the 12 are charged with plotting to carry out acts of terrorism that led to the death of a human being, the unlicensed possession of arms for illegal use and involvement in actions that could undermine ties with foreign countries.
The key defendant is Mohammad Hassan Al-Sahli, a Syrian who has been living in Jordan for two decades. Also attending the trial are his three sons, who entered Jordan in August with forged Iraqi passports to take part in the operation. “We are absolutely not involved in the firing of the rockets. Those responsible fled to Iraq,” Sahli told the judge about the attack. The group smuggled seven Katyusha rockets in a car’s fuel tanker, installed them at a warehouse they rented at Aqaba and readied them to be fired at the US warship docking at the Jordanian port at pre-set time.
