AMMAN, 15 April 2004 — Uncovering a terrorist plot and arresting those involved saved thousands of Jordanian lives, King Abdallah said in a letter of appreciation to his intelligence chief that was published yesterday in Jordanian newspapers.

In the letter to Saad Kheir, chief of the General Intelligence Department, Abdallah expressed his gratitude for authorities’ hard work in arresting terrorists who plotted attacks against government establishments and civilian targets. Those arrested also had plotted to attack the US Embassy in Amman.

Had the “dreadful plot” materialized, Abdallah wrote that Jordan would have seen “a crime that would have been unprecedented in the country in terms of the size of explosives mounted on the vehicles and the methods of carrying out the attacks or the civilian locations chosen for the attacks.”

“God’s providence foiled the plans of those criminals ... and saved the lives of thousands of citizens,” Abdallah wrote.

He also praised Jordanians’ cooperation with security officers during the hunt for the suspects and their vehicles.

During the past two weeks, security forces have arrested several terror suspects and seized a few vehicles loaded with explosives allegedly for attacks in Jordan.

Security officials have not said how many suspects were involved.

At least some of the suspects rounded up were believed to be affiliated with Al-Qaeda, and interrogators were looking into whether they were specifically linked to Jordanian militant Abu-Musab Al-Zarqawi, government officials have said.

The United States has offered a $10 million reward for the capture of Al-Zarqawi, who was sentenced to death in absentia Tuesday by a Jordanian military court for leading a conspiracy to kill US aid worker Laurence Foley, 60, who was gunned down outside his Amman home in 2002.

In conjunction with the arrests, security was visibly been tightened around government offices, especially the prime ministry and interior ministry. Beyond the US Embassy, the Jordanian government has said only that the group’s targets included sensitive public offices.