Jordan sentences Fatah Islam leader, 15 others to jail
By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
A Jordanian military court on Wednesday convicted 16 terrorists - including the fugitive Fatah Islam leader involved in recent fighting in Lebanon - of plotting to join al-Qaida fighters in Iraq.
Shaker al-Absi, whose whereabouts remain unclear, and 15 others - 11 of whom are in custody - were handed prison terms ranging from 20 months to five years.
The remaining five are at large and were tried and sentenced in absentia, as was al-Absi, a Jordanian of Palestinian origin.
Another suspect, Dia'a al-Ajawi, who was also in custody, was acquitted for lack of evidence.
Al-Absi was presumed dead after fighting in the Lebanese Palestinian refugee camp of Nahr el-Bared ended earlier this month, but Lebanese authorities later said a DNA test on a body suspected to be his proved negative.