King Abdullah: Al Qaeda WMDs Came From Syria

And if the WMD are found ... Connecting the dots

Jewish World Review April 20, 2004 / 30 Nissan, 5764

Jack Kelly

For most Democrats and journalists, the question of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq is a closed, because it is politically embarrassing for President Bush if none are found. But if Saddam's arsenal exists, and our enemies have access to it, we could suffer something far worse than embarrassment if we pretend that it does not exist. Here are some dots crying out for connection:

- Explosives and poison gas that could have killed as many as 20,000 people and decapitated his government came from Syria, Jordan's King Abdullah told the San Francisco Chronicle last Saturday. An al Qaida cell associated with Abu Musab al Zarqawi, a Jordanian national thought to be masterminding al Qaida operations in Iraq, smuggled three cars containing 17.5 tons of explosives and a deadly chemical agent of an undisclosed type into Jordan early in April. Targets for the attack were Jordan's military intelligence headquarters, the prime minister's office, and the U.S. embassy, which are located close to each other in the Jordanian capital of Amman.

- Former U.S. weapons inspector David Kay told Congress last fall that U.S. satellite reconnaissance showed substantial truck traffic between Iraq and Syria in the weeks before Operation Iraqi Freedom began last March 19.

- A Syrian journalist who defected to Europe told a Dutch newspaper Jan. 5 that chemical and biological weapons developed by Saddam Hussein's regime were being stored in tunnels dug under the town of al-Baida near the city of Hama in northern Syria; in the village of Tal Snan, near a big Syrian air force base, and on the Lebanese border south of the city of Homs. Nizar Najoef told the Dutch Telegraaf that the WMD transfer was organized by the commanders of Saddam's Special Republican Guard with the help of a cousin of Syrian strong man Bashir Assad. Najoef's remarks strengthen the view of some in U.S. and Israeli intelligence that many of Saddam's most deadly weapons were moved to Syria just before the war began. "People below the Saddam-Hussein-and-his-sons level saw what was coming and decided the best thing to do was to destroy and disperse," James Clapper, head of the National Imagery and Mapping Agency (since renamed the National Geo-Spatial Intelligence Agency), told the New York Times last October.

- On April 12, the official Iranian news agency "reported" that U.S. forces were secretly hiding weapons of mass destruction in southern and western Iraq. This is, of course, a lie. But the telling of it suggests the Iranians think U.S. forces might soon be discovering some hidden caches of WMD. The Iranians were especially alarmed that the U.S. was interviewing scientists connected with Saddam's weapons programs. "A professor of physics at Baghdad University told the MNA correspondent that a group of his colleagues who are highly specialized in military, chemical and biological fields have been either bribed or threatened during the last weeks to provide written information on what they know about various programs and research centers and the possible storage of WMD equipment," the Iranian news agency said. Charles Duelfer, who has replaced Kay as chief weapons inspector, told Congress March 29 that few Iraqi scientists have been willing to talk to Americans. "Many perceive a grave risk in speaking with us," Duelfer said. "On the one hand, there is the fear of prosecution or arrest. On the other, there is fear former regime supporters will exact retribution."

- Mohammed El Baradei, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), reported April 11 that large amounts of nuclear-related equipment, some of it contaminated, and a small number of missile engines have been smuggled out of Iraq for recycling in European scrapyards. UN satellite photos have detected "the extensive removal of equipment and, in some instances, removal of entire buildings" from sites subject to UN monitoring, El Baradei said in a letter to Security Council members, a copy of which was obtained by the Washington Post.

El Baradei said it wasn't clear whether this was merely looting, or part of a systematic effort to destroy evidence. "In any event, these activities may have a significant impact on (IAEA's) continuity of knowledge of Iraq's remaining nuclear-related capabilities and raise concern with regards to the proliferation risk associated with dual use material and equipment disappearing to unknown destinations."

JWR contributor Jack Kelly, a former Marine and Green Beret, was a deputy assistant secretary of the Air Force in the Reagan administration.

It's interesting how a NewsMax thread title is immediately discredited, yet nothing is said about much more outrageous titles:

Clean up your own house before you go pointing fingers at others.

Jordan Says It Foiled Attack on Capital

By JAMAL HALABY, Associated Press Writer

AMMAN, Jordan - Police on Tuesday shot and killed three suspected terrorists who were believed to have planned to detonate a bomb that would have flattened a large part of Jordan's capital, security officials said.

Working on a tip, police stormed a hideout in east Amman where the suspects had been hiding, the police said in a statement carried by the official Petra news agency.

A security official told The Associated Press that the three killed were believed to have links to a terrorist group that had plotted to attack the prime minister's office and Jordan's secret service with a powerful chemical bomb. The official spoke to the AP on customary condition of anonymity.

The plot was disclosed earlier this week and was said to have been foiled last month.

Had the bomb exploded, it could have killed at least 20,000 people and wrecked buildings within a half-mile, government officials have told the AP.

The group is also believed to have planned to attack the U.S. Embassy and other diplomatic missions with poison gas, government officials have said. Police uncovered the plot late last month and arrested most of its members in two raids.

In Tuesday's shootout, police called for the suspects to surrender, but they responded with gunfire, the statement said. The incident took place at 2:20 p.m. in the predominantly Palestinian district of Hashemi, the statement said.

"Information made available to security authorities pointed to the presence of an armed group which had plotted to carry out terror attacks," the statement added.

Two of the three men killed were foreigners, according to police.

It was not immediately clear how many suspects were involved in the shootout and if any escaped.

The government said that in the earlier sweeps that uncovered the bombing and chemical plots, police arrested an unspecified number of suspects and seized at least three cars filled with explosives and detonators. It said the suspects and their cars had entered Jordan from Syria, which denied the allegation.

Twenty-two Arab men were convicted in a terror plot that targeted U.S. and Israeli tourists in the 2000 millennium celebrations in Jordan.

Jordan, a moderate Arab nation with close ties to the United States and a peace treaty with Israel, has been targeted by the al-Qaida terror organization of Osama bin Laden (news - web sites) and other groups.

Al-Qaida may be targeting Jordan

Officials say terrorists could be trying to destabilize country
The Associated Press

Updated: 6:10 a.m. ET April 03, 2004

AMMAN, Jordan - Jordanian officials said Saturday that suspected terrorists detained this week carrying explosives may have belonged to al-Qaida and been linked to plots to blow up vital public facilities to destabilize the U.S.-allied Arab kingdom.

In light of the fears, security forces have beefed up patrols and car searches across the capital, Amman, and issued alerts and rewards for three wanted fugitives and two cars with explosives believed associated with the men arrested earlier this week, officials said.

The terror suspects in custody were arrested when their vehicle -- filled with explosives, detonators and bombs -- was nabbed in a Jordanian town on the Syrian border. They confessed to plotting a series of deadly terror attacks in Jordan, officials close to the investigation told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.

Security tightened

Jordanian officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, have told the AP that cars carrying the suspected terrorists and explosives entered the country from neighboring Syria, claims which Damascus denies.

The suspects were planning to attack sensitive government institutions, the officials said without elaborating. But security has been significantly tightened around public offices, especially the interior and prime ministries.

The officials said investigators are examining the possible link between the detained suspects and Jordanian militant Ahmed al-Khalayleh, a reputed top al-Qaida figure better known as Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.

Al-Zaraqawi, who is thought to be a close associate of Osama bin Laden, has been convicted and sentenced to death in absentia in Jordan for several terror plots against American and Israeli targets in the kingdom, the officials said.

U.S. officials have offered a $10 million reward for al-Zarqawi, saying he is trying to build a network of foreign militants in neighboring Iraq to work on al-Qaida's behalf.

Al-Zarqawi is suspected of connection to about a dozen high-profile attacks in Iraq, including the bombing of the U.N. headquarters in August and Shiite religious ceremonies last month. Moroccan authorities believe he may have helped guide the Madrid train bombings. U.S. and Jordanian law enforcement say he funded the Oct. 2002 assassination of a U.S. diplomat in Jordan.

Bounty offered

Jordan, a moderate Arab nation with close ties to America and a peace treaty with Israel, has been targeted by al-Qaida and other terrorists. Twenty-two Islamic extremists were convicted of plotting to attack U.S. and Israeli tourists during the kingdom's millennium celebrations.

Authorities are still hunting for three suspected fugitive terrorists and two other explosive-laden cars following tips obtained from the detainees, nationalities, number and confessions have not yet been made public.

The government has offered a bounty of 70,000 Jordanian dinars (US$100,000) for information leading to the fugitives or the cars, while state-run TV and radio has issued warnings about them and newspaper ads are showing their pictures with a "wanted" headline.

It was not immediately clear where the terror suspects and the ammunition entered Jordan from. But the location of where the first explosive-laden vehicle was seized, in the northern town of Ramtha, 6 miles from the Syrian border, has sparked speculation that it entered from Syria.

In a bid to soothe Syrian anxiety over the claims, Jordanian government spokeswoman Asma Khader said even if the vehicles did enter from Syria, "we are confident this wasn't because of negligence and certainly not because they were aware" of the plot.

The United States has demanded Syria do more to stamp out its suspected support for terrorists and supporting fighters opposed to Israeli occupation of Palestinian lands and the U.S.-led military presence in Iraq. Syria rejects the U.S. claims.

may have belonged to al-Qaida

The officials said investigators are examining the possible link between the detained suspects and Jordanian militant Ahmed al-Khalayleh, a reputed top al-Qaida figure better known as Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.

has been targeted by al-Qaida and other terrorists.

Terrorists planned Jordan attack
From correspondents in Amman
April 19, 2004

AL-QAEDA LINKED terrorists were plotting to detonate a large-scale chemical bomb in Jordan that could have killed up to 20,000 people, plus also attack the US embassy and Prime Minister's office with poison gas, officials said yesterday.

Officials close to the investigation said several terror suspects arrested in Jordan last month had confessed that the plots were hatched by Jordanian militant Abu-Musab al-Zarqawi, thought to be a close associate of al-Qaeda boss Osama bin Laden.

The officials said the terrorist cell was planning to attack Jordan's secret service, the General Intelligence Department, with a chemical bomb that would have killed up to 20,000 people and caused large-scale destruction within 1km.

Jordan's King Abdullah II said in a letter of thanks published this week to his intelligence chief, General Saad Kheir, that the arrests of the terror cell members had "saved thousands of lives".

Had the chemical bomb plot not been uncovered, King Abdullah wrote, Jordan would have seen "a crime that would have been unprecedented in the country in terms of the size of explosives mounted on the vehicles and the methods of carrying out the attacks or the civilian locations chosen".

Yesterday, the officials said the terror cell was also apparently planning to carry out simultaneous poison-gas attacks against foreign diplomatic missions, including the heavily fortified US embassy in Amman, vital Jordanian public establishments such as the Prime Minister's office and unspecified civilian targets.

They declined to elaborate, but stressed the plot had been foiled with the arrests late last month and earlier this month of an unspecified number of terrorist suspects.

Jordanian officials say the arrests occurred after suspected militants entered Jordan from neighbouring Syria in at least three vehicles filled with explosives, detonators and raw material to be used in bomb-making.

Syrian officials have denied these claims.

Among those arrested last week were two Palestinian militants identified as Suleiman Darweesh and Muwafaq Adwan, thought to be close associates of al-Zarqawi.

Another Palestinian militant, Azmi al-Jayoussi, is thought to be at large.