A Jordanian military court condemned three men to death,...

A Jordanian military court condemned three men to death, two in absentia, for a bombing that killed two people in 2002. The court found the defendant Mohammad Arafat Hijazi, who was in court, to have planned the attack. He was convicted of terrorist conspiracy and condemned to death by hanging. His two accomplices, Mustafa Siam and Ahed Abdullah Khreisat, who are at large, were found guilty of terrorist conspiracy and condemned to death in absentia. The military State Security Court also sentenced four accomplices to prison terms ranging from one year to life with hard labour. The defendants were convicted of planting a bomb under the car of the wife of a senior Jordanian intelligence officer, Lt.-Col. Ali Burjaq, in a district of Amman on February 28, 2002. The bomb exploded but killed two workers passing by. Burjaq escaped unharmed, having driven away from the area minutes beforehand. The men in the dock shouted ``Allahu akbar,'' or ``God is great,'' when the presiding judge, Col. Fawaz al-Buqour, read their sentences.