By Xinhua,
Amman : Jordan’s State Security Court has sentenced three Hamas-linked suspects prison terms ranging from five to 15 years, local daily Jordan Times reported on Friday.
According to the charges sheet, the three were members of the hard-line Palestinian faction of Hamas and stood accused of smuggling weapons from Syria and undergoing military training there with the aim of staging attacks on Jordanian targets including intelligence personnel.
The tribunal on Thursday declared Ayman Naji Hamadallah, 35, guilty of plotting to carry out terrorist attacks and possessing explosives and weapons. He was sentenced to 15 years in prison.
Defendants Ahmad Abu Rabieh, 28, and Ahmad Abu Diab, 30, each was sentenced to five years in prison on charges of conspiring to carry out terrorist attacks.
The suspects were arrested in 2006, a day before the scheduled arrival in Jordan of the then Palestinian Foreign Minister Mahmoudal-Zahar.
Al-Zahar’s visit to Jordan was cancelled, after news came out that Hamas was involved in the arms smuggling affair.
So far, neither the defendants nor the Hamas has conceded that the three men belong to the hard-line Palestinian faction.
Their verdicts will automatically be reviewed by the Court of Cassation within the next 30 days.