Al-Qaeda plotted bomb and poison gas attacks against the US Embassy and other targets in Jordan, sus-pects confessed in a videotape broadcast on Jordanian state television. A commentator said the plotters hoped to kill 80,000 people.
One of the alleged conspirators, Azmi al-Jayousi, said he was acting on the orders of Abu-Musab al-Zarqawi, a Jordanian wanted by the US for allegedly organizing terrorists to fight US troops in Iraq on behalf of al-Qaeda. US officials have offered a US$10 million reward for his capture.
Al-Jayousi, identified as the head of a Jordanian terror cell, said he met al-Zarqawi in Iraq to plan the attacks.
The 20-minute taped program, aired on Monday, contained what were described as confessions by the suspects, who were arrested a month ago. Officials said four terror suspects believed linked to the conspiracy died in a shootout with police in Amman last week.
A commentator on the tape, who wasn't further identified, said the plotters targeted Jordan's secret service, its prime minister's office and the US Embassy.
"At least 80,000 people would have been killed," the commentator said. Al-Zarqawi "is the terrorist" who plotted this operation."
Another Jordanian suspect, car mechanic Hussein Sharif Hussein, was shown saying al-Jayousi asked him to buy vehicles and modify them so that they could crash through gates and walls.
The bearded Hussein, looking anxious, said al-Jayousi told him the aim was "carrying out the first suicide attack to be launched by al-Qaeda using chemicals ... striking at Jordan, its Hashemite [royal family] and launching war on the Crusaders and nonbelievers."
The videotape also showed still photographs of al-Jayousi and nine other suspects. The commentator said four had been killed in clashes with security forces.
Al-Jayousi said he received about US$170,000 from al-Zarqawi to finance the plot and used part of it to buy 20 tons of chemicals. He did not identify the chemicals, but said they "were enough for all the operations in the Jordanian arena."
Images of what the commentator said were vans filled with blue jugs of chemical explosives were included in the broadcast.
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