Jordan: Al-Qaeda-linked terror plot foiled

22 Oct 2012, 10:33 am   -   Source: AAP
Share This
0 
+ Comment
0

Jordanian authorities have arrested 11 suspected al-Qaeda-linked militants for allegedly planning to attack shopping malls and diplomatic missions.

Jordanian authorities have arrested 11 suspected al-Qaeda-linked militants for allegedly planning to attack shopping malls and Western diplomatic missions in the country.

The plot is the first to be unveiled since a triple hotel bombing in Amman almost seven years ago, which killed 60 people. Al-Qaeda claimed responsibility for the attack, citing its rejection of Jordan's alliance with the United States and its 1994 peace treaty with Israel.

Jordanian officials and Arab diplomats have been voicing concern over stability in the kingdom, which lies at a precarious corner in the Middle East, neighbouring hot spots Syria, Iraq and the Palestinian territories.

The officials and diplomats, insisting on anonymity because they are not allowed to make statements to the media, have warned of possible plots to destabilise the kingdom. They say militants seek to use its territory as they consolidate their foothold in Syria - which lies on Jordan's northern border.

Announcing the foiled plot, government spokesman Sameeh Maaytah told an impromptu news conference on Sunday the suspects are all Jordanian and are in police custody.

"They were plotting deadly terror attacks on vital institutions, shopping centres and diplomatic missions," he said. "They sought to destabilise Jordan," he said. "They plotted against Jordan's national security."

Jordan's state TV broadcast headshots of the suspects - all in their 20s and 30s with most of them sporting long beards - identifying them as "militants".

A statement by Jordanian intelligence said an investigation showed that the group "adopts the ideology of al-Qaeda" and that it nicknamed its terror plot as "9/11 the second" - a reference to the Amman hotel blasts, which happened on November 9, 2005.

Since June, the suspects have been surveying targets across the country and bringing in rockets from Syria to use in the alleged plot, the statement said.

The militants sought to carry out their attacks in stages, it added, with initial attacks on shopping centres and foreigners in Jordanian hotels, followed by more deadly strikes with powerful explosives and chemicals on Western diplomatic missions and unspecified "vital national sites".

One attack involved firing rockets at a district in the Jordanian capital that houses the US, British and other diplomatic missions as well as housing for expats and Western diplomats.

The statement said al-Qaeda "explosive experts" based in Iraq and elsewhere have assisted the suspects with manufacturing home-made explosives.

The statement did not say when the suspects were arrested, but Maaytah - the government spokesman - said Jordanian intelligence apprehended them in the past few days.

  • Follow us: 
  • Follow us on Facebook
  • Follow us on Twitter
  • Follow us on Youtube

Join the Discussion

Name
City / Suburb E.g. Artarmon, Sydney
Title
Comment
You have characters remaining.
Validation
What's this?
This is a captcha-picture. It is used to prevent mass-access by robots.
All submitted comments become the property of SBS. They are moderated, so we reserve the right to edit comments and remove HTML tags. Not all submitted comments will be published. Publication does not mean we endorse the opinions expressed. Please read our terms and conditions for more information.