Jordanian intelligence foiled an al-Qaida plot to mount a suicide attack against a key civilian target, state television said on Wednesday.
“The intelligence department has foiled a terrorist plot of a group belonging to the al Qaida network, of Iraqi, Libyan and Saudi nationals, to execute by a suicide bombing an operation targeting a critical civilian installation,” state television said.
The authorities did not name the installation that was targeted but said they had confiscated nine pounds of explosives that were to be used in a suicide operation.
Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, al-Qaida’s leader in Iraq, is Jordanian, and his group claimed responsibility for an attack last November on luxury hotels which killed 60 people.
The government said three militants were arrested — a Libyan national, Mohammad Darsi, 25, who was to be the suicide bomber, and two Iraqis — Muhsen al-Lousi, 34, and Abdul Karim al-Jumaili, 48, who gave him logistical support.
They had been under surveillance by the security forces. The circumstances and exact timing of their arrest was not revealed.
Three Iraqis and a Saudi militant known as Turki Nasser Abdullah, 25, were part of the plot and were believed to be in hiding in an undisclosed neighboring country, state television said.
A security source told Reuters they had leads to indicate the four fugitives were in a secret hideaway in Syria.
Jordan, U.S. differ on Syria as threat
Amman shares Washington’s view that Syria has become a conduit for anti-U.S. fighters heading to Iraq. But unlike Washington, Amman says there is no proof the Damascus government condoned such activities.
Those arrested would go on trial at the state security court soon, a security source said. The source said they had undergone detailed interrogation.
A security source said the plot was the most serious foiled this year among several in which the authorities confiscated weapons.
Several militant underground cells have been uncovered in the past few years and a number of militants have been arrested for plotting attacks on American, Israeli and Western targets.
Security officials in Jordan, a staunch U.S. ally, say the rise in militancy is tied to growing anti-American sentiment after the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003.
