Jordan jails two for trying to fight US in Iraq

AMMAN, Sept 27: A Jordanian military court sentencedtwo Jordanian militants to three and five years in prison today for trying to slip into Iraq via Syria to fight the U S military.

The State Security Court said the men were found guilty of ''performing illegal actions that could have jeopardized the country's ties with a foreign country and putting the kingdom in danger of being subject to hostilities.'' The defendant who was sentenced to five years jail was tried in absentia.

The court also sentenced three other men to six months in jail for helping others to infiltrate Iraq from Jordan.

The jail sentences were the latest in a series handed out this year to dozens of Jordanian militants, many of whom were detained or charged last year with plotting attacks on Americans and Westerners.

Security officials in Jordan, a staunch U S ally, say the rise in militancy is tied to growing anti-American sentiment since the invasion of Iraq.

REUTERS