Jordanian Confesses To Terror Plot

State television aired the confession of a suspect who said he was acting on the orders of a man believed to be al Qaeda's chief of operations in Iraq to plan chemical and poison gas attacks against the U.S. Embassy and other targets in Jordan.

Azmi al-Jayousi, identified as the head of the Jordanian cell, appeared Monday in a 20-minute taped program and described meeting Jordanian militant Abu-Musab al-Zarqawi in Iraq to plan the foiled plot. U.S. officials have offered a $10 million reward for al-Zarqawi's capture, saying he is a close associate of al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden and is trying to build a network of foreign militants in neighboring Iraq to work on al Qaeda's behalf.

A Web site known for carrying Muslim extremists messages on Monday had a purported claim of responsibility from al-Zarqawi for suicide boat attacks against Gulf oil terminals Saturday that killed three Americans and disabled Iraq's biggest terminal for more than 24 hours.

"I have pledged loyalty to Abu-Musab to fully be obedient and listen to him without discussion," al-Jayousi said in the Jordanian television segment.

The videotape also showed still photographs of al-Jayousi and nine other suspects who were expected to deliver confessions later in the program. A commentator said four other suspects had been killed in clashes with security forces. The commentator said the plotters wanted to kill "80,000" Jordanians and had targeted the prime minister, intelligence headquarters and the U.S. Embassy.

Al-Zarqawi "is the terrorist who plotted this operation," the commentator said.

The suspects in the video were linked to a purported conspiracy that officials announced two weeks ago had been foiled. The officials said they had arrested the suspects in two raids in late March and early April. Last week, officials said four other terror suspects believed linked to the same conspiracy were killed in a shootout with police in Amman.

Government officials have said the suspects plotted to detonate a powerful chemical bomb targeting Jordan's secret service and use poison gas against the prime minister's office, the U.S. Embassy and other diplomatic missions. Had the chemical bomb exploded, it could have killed at least 20,000 people and wrecked buildings within a half-mile radius, the officials have said.

No trial date has been set in the case.

Airing suspects' confessions before their trial is unusual in Jordan. In 1998, six men accused of affiliation with a militant group confessed on television to planting a bomb that exploded outside an Amman hotel. Five years later, a court found them innocent.

The unusual move may be an attempt to answer critics who claim the government has exaggerated the terror danger to justify tightening security. Officials in Jordan, a moderate Arab nation with close ties to the United States and a peace treaty with Israel, say the kingdom has been repeatedly targeted by al Qaeda and other militant groups.

Saudi Arabia, another close U.S. ally in the region that has been targeted by al Qaeda, also has put extremists on television. Two prominent Saudi clerics charged with advocating violence were shown on Saudi television late last year renouncing Islamic militancy and attacks against innocent people. Those appearances were seen as part of the Saudi government's campaign to persuade its citizens not to support extremism.