AMMAN — A Jordanian military court on Thursday acquitted Al-Qaeda-linked preacher Abu Qatada of terrorism charges over a foiled 1999 plot to attack an American school in the country's capital, Amman. The State Security Court in Amman announced it found 53-year-old Abu Qatada innocent for lack of evidence against him. The preacher, who was deported from Britain last year to face a re-trial in his native Jordan, had pleaded not guilty to all charges against him. Separately, the court postponed its ruling on a second set of terrorism charges against the cleric, involving plots in 2000 to attack Israelis, Americans and other Westerners in Jordan, and said it would deliver its verdict in that case on Sept. 7. In both cases, Abu Qatada was convicted in absentia years ago and sentenced to life in prison. But on his extradition to Jordan last July, those sentences were suspended and under Jordanian law, he was ordered to stand a new trial. As the ruling was read in the courtroom, Abu Qatada's family and relatives erupted into cheers. The women embraced and kissed one another. Abu Qatada smiled and waved from inside the defendants' cage. – AP
