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Jordan upholds death for terrorist
AMMAN, Jordan (CNN) -- A military court Sunday upheld the death sentence against a Jordanian-American convicted of plotting terror attacks against American and Israeli tourists in Jordan during millennium celebrations. Raed Hijazi, 33, was sentenced to death in February on a range of charges, but dismissed a charge of belonging to an illegal organization, which has been identified in court documents as al Qaeda. A date for his execution has not been set. Hijazi, who pleaded innocent, was charged with seven crimes, including possessing arms and explosives and conspiring to set off bombs at sites frequented by American and Israeli tourists. Hijazi was born in the United States and educated in California. Prosecutors say his planned targets included Mount Nebo, where tradition says Moses saw the Promised Land, and a Christian settlement along the Jordan River said to be where St. John the Baptist baptized Jesus. Hijazi told the court his confession was extracted under duress and that he had no links to al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, held responsible by the U.S. for the September 11, 2001 attacks on New York and Washington. He also denied plotting terrorist attacks, saying that contradicted Islamic teachings. He said prosecutors told him during his interrogation last year that they had to prove a terror plot, which he interpreted to be part of Jordan's effort to get more aid from the United States. Hijazi was tried in absentia along with five others, whom the military court sentenced to death in September 2000. A month later, Hijazi was arrested in Syria and extradited to Jordan, where he was retried according to Jordanian law. -- CNN Producer Mohammed Ali contributed to this report
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