This image grab from Jordan's official TV shows Jordanian al-Qaeda leader Ahmad Fadel al-Khalayleh, nicknamed Abu Mussab al-Zarqawi, who was masterminding terror attacks to hit Jordan, according to a taped testimony by members of a terrorist cell aired by the official television station.(AFP/JORDANIAN TV)
Tuesday April 27, 2004 3:01 AM
By JAMAL HALABY
Associated Press Writer
AMMAN, Jordan (AP) - Al-Qaida plotted bomb and poison gas attacks against the U.S. Embassy and other targets in Jordan, suspects confessed in a videotape that aired Monday on Jordanian state television. A commentator said the plotters hoped to kill 80,000 people.
One of the alleged conspirators, Azmi al-Jayousi, said he was acting on the orders of Abu-Musab al-Zarqawi, a Jordanian wanted by the United States for allegedly organizing terrorists to fight U.S. troops in Iraq on behalf of al-Qaida. U.S. officials have offered a $10 million reward for his capture.
Al-Jayousi, identified as the head of a Jordanian terror cell, said he met al-Zarqawi in neighboring Iraq to plan the attacks.
The 20-minute taped program contained what were described as confessions by the suspects, who were arrested a month ago. Officials said four terror suspects believed linked to the conspiracy died in a shootout with police in Amman last week.
A commentator on the tape, who wasn't further identified, said the plotters targeted Jordan's secret service, its prime minister's office and the U.S. Embassy.
``At least 80,000 people would have been killed,'' the commentator said. Al-Zarqawi ``is the terrorist'' who plotted this operation.''
Another Jordanian suspect, car mechanic Hussein Sharif Hussein, was shown saying al-Jayousi asked him to buy vehicles and modify them so that they could crash through gates and walls.
The bearded Hussein, looking anxious, said al-Jayousi told him the aim was ``carrying out the first suicide attack to be launched by al-Qaida using chemicals ... striking at Jordan, its Hashemite (royal family) and launching war on the Crusaders and nonbelievers.''
A Web site known for publicizing messages from Muslim extremists on Monday carried a purported claim of responsibility from al-Zarqawi for suicide boat attacks against Gulf oil terminals Saturday that killed three Americans and disabled Iraq's biggest terminal for more than 24 hours.
``I have pledged loyalty to Abu-Musab to fully be obedient and listen to him without discussion,'' al-Jayousi said in the Jordanian television segment. He said he first met al-Zarqawi in Afghanistan, where al-Jayousi said he studied explosives, ``before Afghanistan fell.'' He said he later met al-Zarqawi in Iraq, but was not specific about when.
The videotape also showed still photographs of al-Jayousi and nine other suspects. The commentator said four had been killed in clashes with security forces. Three of the slain men were identified as Syrians. But Syria has denied Jordanian claims that militants involved in the plot entered Jordan from Syria.
Al-Jayousi said he received about $170,000 from al-Zarqawi to finance the plot and used part of it to buy 20 tons of chemicals. He did not identify the chemicals, but said they ``were enough for all the operations in the Jordanian arena.''
Images of what the commentator said were vans filled with blue jugs of chemical explosives were included in the broadcast.
Hussein, the car mechanic, said he met al-Jayousi in 1999 but did not clearly say when the terror plans were laid out.
Al-Jayousi said he and Hussein bought five vehicles, including a truck which was to be filled with explosives and used to attack the intelligence department. At least two vehicles had forged license plates and car registrations.
Citing unidentified technical experts, the commentator said al-Jayousi had made enough explosives to cause ``two explosions - conventional and chemical - which were to have directly affected an area within a 2-kilometer (one mile) radius.''
Al-Jayousi said he began making the explosives in a secret lab. Another detained terror suspect, Ahmad Samir, said that he worked in one of the labs for two months. ``I never had the chance to leave it at all ... for the protection of the operation.''
No trial date has been set in the case.
Airing suspects' confessions before their trial is unusual in Jordan. In 1998, six men accused of affiliation with a militant group confessed on television to planting a bomb that exploded outside an Amman hotel. Five years later, a court found them innocent.
The unusual move may be an attempt to answer critics who claim the government has exaggerated the terror danger to justify tightening security. Officials in Jordan, a moderate Arab nation with close ties to the United States and a peace treaty with Israel, say the kingdom has been repeatedly targeted by al-Qaida and other militant groups.