[Deathpenalty]death penalty news----worldwide

[Rick Halperin]

Oct. 5



JORDAN:

Jordanian court commutes death sentence for Al Qaeda terrorist


The Court of Cassation in Jordan has commuted the death sentence passed
against Raed Hijazi, a convicted Al Qaeda terrorist, to 20 years
imprisonment, judicial sources said on Tuesday.

The State Security Court in absentia for plotting terror acts and
belonging to an illegal group, Al Qaeda, initially convicted Hijazi, 32. A
lower appeals court upheld the sentence after he was apprehended.

The Jordanian supreme court ruling reduced the sentence because it found
Hijazi did not carry out the plans for which he possessed arms and
explosives. The tribunal said in its ruling that it had taken into account
that Hijazi had cooperated with investigators.

The defendant, who was born in the United States and holds US citizenship,
was tried in September 2000 along with the Jordanian fugitive Abu Musab
Zarqawi, who is believed to be the mastermind of many terror attacks in
Iraq.

(source: Khaleej Times)