In many cases linked to alleged terror mastermind, wheels of justice grind slowly

By LAURA KING
AP Special Correspondent

AMMAN, Jordan – "God is great!" the bearded prisoner shouts defiantly from behind the bars of his cage in a military courtroom, fingers jammed into his ears to block the sound of attorneys' arguments as he recited his afternoon prayers.

Raed Hijazi, a 32-year-old Jordanian-American, stands accused of helping plan what was supposed to have been a spectacular millennium terror strike aimed at Western tourists in the Holy Land, with a target list that included a luxury Amman hotel and the traditional site of Jesus' baptism along the banks of the River Jordan.

At the time of the foiled plot, authorities confidently linked it to Osama bin Laden, now identified by the United States as the prime suspect in last week's fiery airborne attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, the world's worst terrorist act.

But Hijazi's legal odyssey, now in its second year, is a prime example of just how drawn-out and difficult efforts can be to establish ties between terror suspects and bin Laden – and ultimately make them stick in court.

Suspected associates of bin Laden, the exiled Saudi millionaire, are jailed, under investigation or in the midst of trials in a half-dozen Western countries, including the United States, Britain, France, Germany and Italy.

More politically charged are bin Laden-linked cases in Arab states like Jordan and Yemen, whose governments feel under heavy U.S. pressure to aggressively prosecute such suspects, but are keenly aware of the dangers of a domestic backlash.

In Yemen, for example, the probe into October's attack on the USS Cole, in which 17 U.S. sailors died, has moved in fits and starts.

U.S. investigators stayed out of the country from June to August due to security threats. They left after last week's terror attacks in the United States, and have not returned.

Yemeni authorities say they are ready to put eight imprisoned suspects on trial, but American officials are pushing for more evidence to be gathered before the cases go to court. There have also been reports Yemen is balking at U.S. requests to investigate unidentified prominent Yemenis in the case.

In Jordan, Hijazi's case has been full of twists and turns.

The San Jose, Calif.-born man – who studied business in the late 1980s at California State University, Sacramento – dropped out of sight after being implicated by Jordanian authorities in a plot to stage a series of attacks in conjunction with 2000's New Year celebrations.

Tried in absentia, Hijazi was convicted and sentenced to death last September by a special tribunal – a panel of two military judges and one civilian one – that handles security-related cases.

Last October, he was arrested in Damascus, Syria, and extradited to Jordan. Under Jordanian law, he was automatically entitled to a new trial.

So now Hijazi is back before the same tribunal, in a drab and Spartan courtroom with a black-barred cage for the accused along one wall, charged with nine counts – including possessing arms and explosives and conspiring to carry out terror attacks.

Among the other charges is affiliation with an illegal organization, whose name was not brought up in court. Earlier on, military prosecutors identified it as al-Qaida, or the Base, which is bin Laden's network.

Now, though, even the prosecution is quietly acknowledging it may have trouble getting a conviction on the latter charge – especially since none of Hijazi's 27 co-defendants was found guilty of links to bin Laden in the original trial.

"We are not taking Mr. bin Laden to court here," the chief judge, Col. Tayel Raqqad, told reporters on Monday. "We are trying an individual who is accused of acts that would adversely affect Jordan's security."

During cross-examination of witnesses on Monday, Hijazi broke into a loud recital of Quranic verses at the hour when devout Muslims say afternoon prayers. "Allahu akbar!" – "God is Great!" – he shouted as the court proceedings went on without pause.

At other times during the 90-minute hearing, Hijazi – pale and bearded, plumpish and slump-shouldered, clad in blue prison uniform and sandals – raised his eyes to the ceiling and mouthed what seemed to be prayers.

Hijazi's resume, as detailed by the prosecution, appears to have some chilling similarities to those of the suicide pilots and their hijacker accomplices.

The prosecution asserts Hijazi was recruited to a Jordanian terror cell in 1995, and began stockpiling arms and explosives in Syria. A year later, authorities say, he traveled to bin Laden's guerrilla camps in Afghanistan for training in bombmaking.

In 1997, he returned to the United States and worked as a cabbie in Boston, raising money for his terror cell, prosecutors said. In 1999, they say he went back to Afghanistan, and was preparing to return to Jordan when his cell was broken by the authorities.

Hijazi, who has denied the charges against him, told the court in July he had no links with bin Laden and had plotted no terror attacks, as that would be against the teaching of Islam. He acknowledged going to Pakistan in the early 1990s, but only to take part in relief operations for Afghan refugees.

On Monday, the court heard testimony about Hijazi's claim that he had been tortured by a Jordanian military interrogator, Col. Mahmoud Obeidat, who told him a confession would "please the Americans."

Hijazi's father, Hassan, 66, watched the proceedings from a metal bench a few yards from the cage where his son was held.

"He is innocent," the father whispered afterward. "I do not believe he could be guilty of such things – not the things they accuse him of, and not anything like those others did last week."

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