Anyone recall this news from April? Some 20 tons of chemicals including blister and nerve agents siezed in Jordan - part of an al Qeada/al-Zarqawi plot to kill thousands.
Jordan says major al Qaeda plot disrupted
Authorities: Chemical cloud would have been released in Amman
Monday, April 26, 2004 Posted: 3:54 PM EDT (1954 GMT)
AMMAN, Jordan (CNN) -- Jordanian authorities said Monday they have broken up an alleged al Qaeda plot that would have unleashed a deadly cloud of chemicals in the heart of Jordan's capital, Amman.
The plot would have been more deadly than anything al Qaeda has done before, including the September 11 attacks, according to the Jordanian government.
Among the alleged targets were the U.S. Embassy, the Jordanian prime minister's office and the headquarters of Jordanian intelligence.
cnn.com
Here's a follow up from July:
Jordan versus terrorism
The General Intelligence Department (GID), Jordan's state intelligence agency, is foiling an average of two terrorist attacks each month, according to well-placed sources in the capital, Amman.
With Islamist extremism on the rise in Saudi Arabia to the south and rampant in Iraq to the east, Jordan feels vulnerable and is determined not to go the way of its neighbours.
The dangers were highlighted in April when authorities disrupted an Al-Qaeda plot to bomb targets in Amman. Officials said that the terrorists had planned a suicide attack on the GID headquarters in west Amman, using trucks loaded with explosives and deadly chemicals. The assault could have created a toxic gas cloud that could have killed 80,000 people, officials say.
In a series of raids six Jordanians and two Syrians were arrested in connection with the plot; four people were killed in a shootout with security forces in Amman on 20 April; and 20 tonnes of 71 different chemicals, including blistering agents, choking agents and nerve gas, were seized along with several trucks. Officials said that the plot was only days away from being launched.
janes.com |
