JORDAN. COURT CONFIRMS DEATH PENALTY FOR TWO CONVICTED OF TERRORISM

Jordan's State Security Court (SSC) confirmed for the fourth time the death penalty passed previously on two Islamists, Khader Abu Hosher and Osama Sammar, after condemning them for plotting to carry out acts of terrorism and manufacturing explosives. The verdict dated back to 1999, when the two defendants and others were charged with planning to attack foreign tourists during the millennium celebrations. The SSC ruling had been overruled three times by the Cassation Court, Jordan's highest court of appeal, which urged the SSC to handle the issue in the light of a royal amnesty law issued in 1999. The tribunal also confirmed its previous decision to jail four other defendants for terms ranging between 7 and a half and 15 years hard labour.