Jordan's state security court sentenced eight Islamic militants to death today for killing a US diplomat in an assassination blamed on followers of Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda group.
Libyan Salem Saad bin Sweid and Jordanian Yasser Friehat, who were accused of shooting diplomat Laurence Foley on the doorstep of his home in October 2002, were among those sentenced to death.
Chief Judge Fawaz al-Baqour also handed down death sentences on six fugitives in absentia.
Two other Jordanian defendants, Mohammad Damas and Mohammad Amin, were sentenced to 15 and six years hard labour respectively. The case was dismissed against another defendant for lack of evidence.
Among the six fugitives sentenced to death was Ahmad Fadheel al-Khalayleh, better known as Abu Musab Zarqawi and the alleged mastermind of the killing, whom Washington says is a senior al-Qaeda operative.
Zarqawi was already sentenced to death in absentia last year for plotting attacks on Westerners.
Jordan's close US ties and 1994 peace with Israel are unpopular with many in the conservative kingdom and there is strong support for Islamist groups in some areas.