AMMAN — Eleven men suspected of links to Al-Qaeda have pleaded not guilty to terrorism charges related to an alleged plot to attack the US Embassy and shopping malls in Jordan. The suspects — two Jordanians and nine Jordanians of Palestinian origin — entered their pleas Thursday at the opening session of their trial at a military court in Amman. The men have been in police custody since last October. The indictment accuses them of plotting simultaneous attacks on two shopping malls in the Jordanian capital to distract police as they assaulted the US Embassy. The plot allegedly called for gunmen killing diplomats on the embassy grounds. The men face the death penalty, if convicted. The prosecution said the cell had targeted major shopping malls in the capital and was planning a bombing campaign in the capital's affluent Abdoun neighbourhood, where many foreign embassies are located. The indictment said the group planned to attack the embassy with mortar rounds and then blast its way inside with suicide bombs, but gave no further details. Jordanian authorities have arrested scores of hardliners in recent months along its northern border with Syria as they were about to cross the frontier to join jihadist groups fighting to overthrow Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad. Jordan regularly arrests suspects and puts them on trial in military courts that human rights groups say are illegal and lack proper legal safeguards. Many civil society groups say many of the cases are politically motivated. In 2005, Al-Qaeda claimed responsibility for three suicide bombings that ripped through luxury hotels in Jordan's capital, killing dozens of people. — Agencies
