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wrbones
04-01-03, 07:15 PM
Jordan Foils Two Alleged Terror Plots







Tuesday, April 01, 2003

AMMAN, Jordan — Authorities have foiled two alleged Iraqi terror plots, including a plan to contaminate water supplies to Jordanian and U.S. troops on the border with Iraq, diplomats said Tuesday.





The second alleged plot — in which four Iraqis were arrested last week — allegedly involved plans to bomb a luxury hotel frequented by Americans and other Westerners, including about 70 journalists, the diplomats said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Jordanian Information Minister Mohammad Affash Adwan indicated there had been Iraqi attempts to undermine Jordan's security.

"This is purely a security matter, which is being investigated, and I can't discuss it further," Adwan told The Associated Press.

Iraqi Embassy spokesman Jawad al-Ali declined comment to AP, but he told Paris-based Radio Monte Carlo that the allegations were "completely untrue" and that Iraq was keen to preserve Jordan's security.

The alleged water-contamination plot involved five Iraqi diplomats expelled from Jordan on March 23, the diplomatic sources said.

They said the water is pumped from Zarqa, 17 miles northeast of Amman. Zarqa water plants supply distant villages in Jordan's eastern desert, where there are several army and air bases, including one near the Iraqi border where hundreds of U.S. soldiers are manning anti-missile batteries.

The hotel involved in the second alleged plot was identified by the diplomats as the Grand Hyatt, where a small fire in one of its upper floors last week was blamed on an electrical short circuit. Hyatt officials said they were unaware of a terror plot.

When it expelled the five Iraqi diplomats, Jordan said they had carried out actions "incompatible" with their diplomatic duties. The government later said two could stay, but the Iraqi Embassy said all five had already left the country.

Foreign Minister Marwan Muasher said the expulsions were ordered on "security" grounds. He and other government officials declined to elaborate, saying it was inappropriate at a time of regional tension over the U.S. and British bombardment of Jordan's eastern neighbor.

One day after the deportations, Jordanian authorities also detained four Iraqi transport officials for questioning. No details emerged, but officials said those four — two employees with Iraqi Airways and two with a joint Jordanian-Iraqi transport company — had been released.

Four others arrested in connection with the hotel plot remain in custody. The diplomats declined to say when those arrests were made.

Early last month, U.S. officials said they had asked about 60 countries to expel 300 Iraqis said to be undercover agents possibly poised to attack American interests overseas. Some of the 300 were operating as diplomats out of Iraqi embassies, U.S. officials said. Several countries expelled Iraqi diplomats then, citing spying accusations or their involvement in activities "incompatible with their diplomatic status."

After launching the war, the United States asked all countries to expel Iraqi diplomats and close their embassies. Few countries responded positively.

Jordan denied its expulsions were related to the U.S. request. But the actions fueled tension with Iraq, which already had been suspicious of Jordan for allowing U.S. troops to be stationed near its border, despite Jordanian assertions that the "several hundred" Americans were in the kingdom only for defensive purposes.

Aware of strong anti-war sentiments among Jordanians, the government has been trying to distance itself from the conflict on Iraq, which supplies all its oil needs at cheap prices.

Jordan said last week that oil from Iraq ceased on March 20, the first day of the war. Iraq blamed Jordan for the halt and accused the kingdom of blocking overland shipments of food and medicine. Jordan denied it.

firstsgtmike
04-02-03, 01:12 AM
"The second alleged plot — in which four Iraqis were arrested last week — allegedly involved plans to bomb a luxury hotel frequented by Americans and other Westerners, including about 70 journalists."

I wish they had gotten the Americans and other Westerners out, left the journalists there, and got busy with more important things.