AMMAN, 5 August 2005 — Jordanian authorities have smashed a new terror cell after arresting 17 suspects who belonged to Al-Qaeda branches in Iraq and Saudi Arabia, police sources said yesterday.
“The suspects planned to stage attacks on intelligence personnel and US troops inside the country,” the pro-government daily newspaper Al-Rai quoted the public prosecutor of the State Security Court (SSC) Fawaz Otoum as saying.
They were also involved in recruiting terrorists and collecting donations for Al-Qaeda groups in Iraq and Saudi Arabia, he added.
Otoum expected the suspects to go on trial before the SSC at the end of this month. Initial charges include “plotting to carry out terror attacks and destroying Jordan’s relations with a foreign country,” he added. People convicted of terror attacks can be condemned to death in Jordan.
The suspects, whose ages ranged between 22 and 27 years, were arrested in different localities in west Amman, he said.
The SSC is currently trying several groups suspected of plotting acts of terrorism inside Jordan, including a network that planned to launch the country’s first chemical attack in coordination with the Jordanian fugitive Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi, widely dubbed as leader of Al-Qaeda in Iraq.
Jordanian intelligence has stepped up its vigilance after receiving warnings of possible attacks against Western targets in the kingdom following the latest bomb attacks in London and the Egyptian resort of Sharm El-Sheikh. Security sources say the militants are part of several extremist underground cells that have been uncovered in recent months in Jordan.
Israel warned its citizens yesterday to steer clear of Jordan, saying that there had been an increase in the threat of attacks against travelers and tourist sites.
While a lower level travel warning had previously been in place, the National Security Council said Israelis should not set foot inside Jordan.
