Region | Jordan
Jordan frees Al Qaida mentor after three years
Jordan on Wednesday freed the mentor of former Al Qaida in Iraq leader Abu Musab Al Zarqawi after several years of imprisonment without a trial, a judiciary official said
- AP
- Published: 00:48 March 13, 2008
Jordan: Jordan on Wednesday freed the mentor of former Al Qaida in Iraq leader Abu Musab Al Zarqawi after several years of imprisonment without a trial, a judiciary official said.
Isam Mohammad Taher Al Barqawi, also known as Shaikh Abu Mohammad Al Maqdisi, was arrested July 6, after an interview with the Qatar-based Al Jazeera Arabic satellite channel and other media networks. The detention came one week after his acquittal by Jordan's State Security Court of a plot targeting three air bases in Jordan and for making contacts with terrorist groups outside Jordan.
Al Maqdisi was also among 28 defendants accused of a plot to carry out terrorist attacks against Israeli and American tourists during the millennium celebration in the kingdom.
He was acquitted by the military court but remained in detention for eight months without explanation.
According to an official at the military court, who spoke on customary condition of anonymity, because he is not allowed to speak to the press, Al Maqdisi was released for humanitarian and health purposes.
Radical ideology
A family member said Al Maqdisi will not give any press statements.
Al Maqdisi, a native of the West Bank town of Nablus, and Al Zarqawi, shared a cell block for four years between 1995 and 1999 and is said to have taught radical Islamic ideology to the future Al Qaida commander, but hours before his arrest in 2005, he preached restraint to Iraq's insurgents, saying that he preferred a reduction in suicide attacks.
The call was rebuked by Al Zarqawi, who has warned in a statement posted on an Islamic website, that his mentor's comments could split Islamic fighters.
Al Maqdisi had remained in Jordanian police custody since 2005 despite calls from international human rights organisations to release him or put him on trial.
News Editor's choice
-
6,000 cups and counting: Addicted to that tea
This cafeteria in Al Mamzar attracts thousands of customers daily, including the rich and not so rich
-
Swimming pool horror: Twins hospitalised
Twins rushed to hospital after collapsing from chlorine inhalation at swimming pool in their villa
-
Play your cards right with credit card interest
UAE Central Bank plans to cap interest rates, but are you paying thirty-five per cent now?
