AMMAN, Jordan -- Jordan's military court convicted three militants Wednesday of plotting to assassinate President Bush during a 2006 visit to the kingdom and sentenced them to 15 years in jail. The verdict came as Bush arrived in Israel on the first stop of a regional tour to celebrate the 60th anniversary of Israel's founding and to make a a new push for a Mideast peace deal. The Jordanian men _ Nidhal Musleh al-Momani, Sattam al-Zawahrah and Tharwat Daraj, all in their 20s _ were arrested Nov. 28, 2006, the day before Bush landed in the Jordanian capital Amman. Prosecutors said they were found with machine guns and large plastic bottles filled with gasoline meant to be used for bombs. They were accused of planning to attack the American and Danish embassies in Amman; Denmark had no embassy in Jordan at the time. Defense attorneys called the case "exaggerated and unrealistic," saying their clients had neither the organizational capability nor the skills to carry out such attacks. But security officers testified that they overheard one defendant, al-Momani, saying he wanted to blow himself up in Bush's convoy. The men went on trial in 2007, pleading not guilty to charges that included planning to carry out terrorist attacks using flammable substances and illegal possession of explosives and automatic rifles. On Wednesday, the court found all three "guilty beyond doubt of the crime of plotting terrorism," according to the verdict statement. The defendants, wearing long beards and blue prison uniforms, kneeled as in prayer in the dock as the verdict was read. They were initially sentenced to death, but the court commuted their terms to 15 years, saying they were "young men that deserved another chance in life to repent." Their lawyers said they would appeal. According to prosecutors, the three met in Zarqa _ a city northeast of Amman and hometown of al-Qaida in Iraq leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, who was killed in a U.S. airstrike in Iraq two years ago.
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