Amman - Jordan's State Security Court on Sunday sentenced a Jordanian to 15 years in jail with hard labour for attacking a German tourist in downtown Amman last year, judicial sources said. Mohammad Barham, 35, was found guilty of having stabbed tourist, Reinhardi Waldemar, 64, as he walked with his wife near the Husseini Mosque in central Amman on March 14, 2008.
Waldemar was rushed to a nearby hospital where he was treated for knife wounds and recovered later.
The tribunal, in passing the maximum sentence, said Barham - an employee of the Amman municipality - had committed "a serious action which could have led to the murder of an innocent human being who came to Jordan as a tourist."
The court also noted that the attack could "terrorise tourists and affect Jordan's reputation and its tourism industry."
Barham reportedly adopted an extremist Muslim ideology and was motivated by the belief that Westerners were to blame for all injustices inflicted on Muslims throughout the world.
He has 30 days to appeal the verdict, the judicial sources said.
