AMMAN, Jordan, Feb. 15 (UPI) -- Nine men in Jordan received death sentences from a military court for plotting a chemical attack in April 2004, which officials say could have killed thousands.
Four of those were sentenced in absentia, including Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, leader of the al-Qaida in Iraq, reports the BBC. Zarqawi already faces two death sentences in Jordan.
Those in custody include Azmi al-Jayousi, believed to the mastermind of the plot, the report said. The plot called for suicide bombers to drive trucks loaded with explosives and toxic chemicals into Jordan's intelligence headquarters.
A captured suspect was said to have made filmed confessions that the operation was hatched by Zarqawi, the BBC report said. But in a purported audio tape, Zarqawi said his group was behind the plot but denied that chemical weapons were to be used.
