Security court delays Abu Qatada sentencing

AMMAN — The State Security Court (SSC) postponed on Sunday the sentencing of hard-line cleric Abu Qatada as Al Qaeda-aligned preacher continued his war of words against the Islamic State (IS).

In a decision early Sunday, SSC postponed to September 24 the sentencing of Omar Mahmoud Othman, better known as Abu Qatada, for his alleged involvement in a foiled terror plot.

Delivering the court’s decision, presiding Judge Ahmad Qatarneh refused to disclose the reasons behind the delay.

Legal and security sources close to the proceedings say they expect the court to hand down later this month a prison sentence ranging from two-and-a-half to six years for Othman’s alleged involvement in the so-called millennium bombings, a plot to carry out Al Qaeda-inspired attacks on Westerners across Amman in the late 1990s.

The decision marked the latest delay in the high-profile trial, which has been marred by a turnover in Othman’s defence team and witness no-shows over the past 11 months.

In a decision earlier in June, the court cleared Othman of charges in a separate terrorism case in which the Bethlehem-born cleric was accused of masterminding a series of attempted bombings of Western diplomatic sites across Amman.

In its previous decision, the court threw out the testimony of co-defendant Nasser Al Khamaiseh on the grounds that Othman’s alleged co-conspirator was a defendant in a second, unrelated trial, citing Article 148 of the Penal Code.

Meanwhile, Abu Qatada continued his war of words with IS, denouncing the hard-line jihadist group for “distorting” Islam.

In the lead-up to Sunday’s court session, Othman railed against IS from the defendant’s cage, describing the jihadist movement’s recent gains in Iraq and its announced Islamic caliphate as a “bubble that will soon burst”.

Othman denounced the group’s recent beheading of two Western journalists, describing the executions as “against Islam, against humanity”.

“The so-called Islamic State is acting outside Islam and is hurting, not defending the Sunnis,” Othman declared.

An influential voice within the Salafist movement and jihadist circles, Abu Qatada has emerged as one of IS’ most vocal critics, using his trial as a stage to attack the group and urge Islamist fighters to abandon the movement.

Othman had previously sought asylum in the UK, which deported the 51-year-old to Jordan in August 2013 as part of an extradition agreement concluded by Amman and London a month earlier.

The EU Human Rights Court had overruled Britain’s previous attempts to deport Othman to Jordan, raising questions over his ability to receive a fair trial and the possible admission of testimonies obtained through torture.

Othman, his family and defence team say the cleric has received no ill treatment while in Jordanian custody.