Jordan arrests 17 militants linked to al-Qaida

Jordan has arrested 17 militants linked to al-Qaida who were allegedly plotting to attack Jordanian intelligence agents and US troops in the kingdom, a military prosecutor said today.

The militants, whose indictment is expected to be completed by August 31, belonged to the Iraqi chapter of al-Qaida, which is led by the Jordanian Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, and a previously unknown Saudi group called the Brigades of the Holy Shrines, said prosecutor Maj. Fawaz al-Otoum.

“Jordan’s public security forces brought before me 17 people who belonged to two terror organisations,” al-Otoum said. “Both groups devised plots to attack officers of the Jordanian intelligence department and US military personnel in Jordan.”

Al-Otoum said the accused were also involved in “recruiting men and collecting contributions to carry out terror attacks”.

Initial charges include “plotting to carry out terror attacks and destroying Jordan’s relations with a foreign country,” he added. People convicted of terror attacks can be condemned to death in Jordan.

Al-Otoum said the men, aged between 22 and 27, were arrested in Abu-Nuseir and Suwelieh, two low-income districts on the outskirts of Amman, the capital.

Jordan’s security forces stepped up their vigilance after warnings of attacks on Western targets in the kingdom following last month’s bombings in London and the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh.