Jordan sentences al-Zarqawi to death in absentia News
Jordan sentences al-Zarqawi to death in absentia

[JURIST] A Jordan military court on Sunday sentenced al Qaeda's chief in Iraq Abu Musab al-Zarqawi [BBC profile] and two others to death for a failed suicide bombing on the country's border with Iraq last year. Al-Zarqawi and one of the other suspects were sentenced in absentia, but the third, Saudi Fahd Noman Suwelim al-Feheiqi, was present for the trial and claimed that he wanted to carry out the bombing. The court ruling is the second time that Jordan has sentenced Jordanian-born al-Zarqawi to death for a terror attack, and in March he was also sentenced to 15 years [JURIST report] in prison for an alleged plot to bomb the US embassy in Jordan. Al-Feheiqi was halted in the bombing attack in December 2004 when the car he was driving ran into a ditch, and al-Zarqawi and the other militant were both charged with conspiracy in the attempted attack. Al-Zarqawi remains at large in Iraq, where he has played a major role in the insurgency, and he is believed to be connected to bombings in Amman, Jordan in November that killed 60. AP has more.