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| Iraq-Jordan |
| Jordan uncovers Zarq's boys planning to attack US military on break in Majik Kingdom |
| 2005-08-04 |
| AMMAN (Reuters) - Jordan has arrested 17 militants linked to the al Qaeda network in Iraq and an affiliated Saudi group who were plotting to attack U.S. military personnel in the kingdom, security sources said on Thursday. They said interrogations of the suspects revealed that six of them had ties to Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, head of the al Qaeda network in Iraq, while the others belonged to an underground Saudi group known as the Brigades of the Holy Shrines. "They were planning attacks on foreign officers in the kingdom," said one security source, referring to a plot to attack U.S. military personnel who frequent five-star hotels while on leave from duty in neighboring Iraq. The arrests came after an investigation that used informers to hunt Jordanian militants allied to Zarqawi who help recruit Arab militants to fight against U.S. troops. "The interrogations revealed their membership of these underground groups. They were recruiting terrorists for al Qaeda in Iraq and collecting donations for the organization," said another security source. Jordanian intelligence has stepped up its vigilance after receiving warnings of possible attacks against Western targets in the kingdom following the latest bomb attacks in London and the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh. Security sources say the militants are part of several Sunni fundamentalist underground cells that have been uncovered in recent months in Jordan. Prosecutors were expected to issue a formal indictment against the militants, who come from the Sweileh neighborhood of Amman, an impoverished Islamist stronghold, by the end of the month. There we go with the "impoverished" areas theory again, but I do like the below. They will be charged with conspiracy to carry out terror attacks, which carries the death penalty. |
| Posted by:BA |
| #11 The impoverished areas is key. See improvished areas are areas (a) the authorities tend to be distrusted (b) the people tend to be more easily misled into idiocy (marxism for example) (c) the people can be bribed. That does not mean impoverished areas create Jihadists, but it does make those areas potential safe areas that should be watched carefully. |
| Posted by: rjschwarz 2005-08-04 15:12 |
| #10 Sorry about the title mixup. Thanks for fixing Steve, lol! I was trying to quickly post this one and the story of the al-Jazeera video of Zawahri threatening the UK at the same time! |
| Posted by: BA 2005-08-04 14:04 |
| #9 ...and I second glenmore's thoughts on "Jordanian Interrogation". Do you suppose the Brits could borrow these guys from King Abdullah to question Haroun Aswad when they get him from Zambia? |
| Posted by: BigEd 2005-08-04 12:53 |
| #8 Does anyone else get the impression that these folks have a zombie like personality, and robotically follow whoever is directing them? The British bombers were reported to have become more "pious in their Islamic practice". It seems that something has grasped their mind and won't let go. Similar to cults like Hare Krishna, Scientology, or Unification Church here in the USA when they get a hold of someone... |
| Posted by: BigEd 2005-08-04 12:42 |
| #7 "...interrogations of the suspects revealed ..." JORDANIAN interrogation? Ouch! |
| Posted by: glenmore 2005-08-04 12:41 |
| #6 I was already uneasy about using the most prominent hotels in Amman. On my next break I'll choose a second-rank one (and since I'll be paying, it's doubly sensible). Jordan's very nice but it just feels like a juicy target. All the stikes against it - at peace with Israel, America's poodle (the jihadis probably know or sense the incredible amount of cooperation that remains unacknowledged), successful and moderate monarchy with a very secular feel. |
| Posted by: Verlaine in Iraq 2005-08-04 11:10 |
| #5 Fixed title |
| Posted by: Steve 2005-08-04 11:02 |
| #4 Still trying to figure out what the hell this has to do with Lebanon? LOL! |
| Posted by: danking70 2005-08-04 10:11 |
| #3 Seventeen arrested... that makes a lot of threads to pull to start unravelling the Al Qaeda fabric. 7/7 and 7/21, distressing as they were/are, begin to look like a disaster for A.Q. and its affiliates. So many individuals swept up by the authorities, so much of the spider's web revealed, and a change in attitude across Europe to the mouthy Muslim radicals in their midst. I await with bated breath the next revelation! :-) |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2005-08-04 09:39 |
| #2 Too bad, so sad. |
| Posted by: bigjim-ky 2005-08-04 09:15 |
| #1 Inspector Reynaud around? |
| Posted by: tu3031 2005-08-04 09:15 |