Jordanian authorities said Monday they have broken
up an alleged al Qaeda plot that would have unleashed a deadly cloud of
chemicals in the heart of Jordan's capital, Amman.
The plot would have been more deadly than anything al Qaeda has done
before, including the September 11 attacks, according to the Jordanian
government.
Among the alleged targets were the U.S. Embassy, the Jordanian prime
minister's office and the headquarters of Jordanian intelligence. U.S.
intelligence officials expressed caution about whether the chemicals
captured by Jordanian authorities were intended to create a "toxic
cloud" chemical weapon, but they said the large quantities involved
were at a minimum intended to create "massive explosions." [...]
In a series of raids, the Jordanians said, they seized 20 tons of
chemicals and numerous explosives. Also seized were three trucks
equipped with specially modified plows, apparently designed to crash
through security barricades.
The first alleged target was the Jordanian intelligence headquarters.
The alleged blast was intended to be a big one. "According to my
experience as an explosives expert, the whole of the Intelligence
Department will be destroyed, and nothing of it will remain, nor
anything surrounding it," [suspected ringleader] Azmi Jayyousi said.
[...]
A Jordanian government scientist said the plot had been carefully
worked out, with just the right amount of explosives to spread the
deadly cloud without diminishing the effects of the chemicals. The
blast would not burn up the poisonous chemicals but instead produce a
toxic cloud, the scientist said, possibly spreading for a mile, maybe
more.
The Jordanian intelligence buildings are within a mile of a large
medical center, a shopping mall and a residential area.
"And there is no one combination of antidote to treat nerve agent,
choking agent and blistering agent," the scientist said.

Missing Tanker Truck Raises Terror Concerns
A gasoline tanker truck has been missing from a Pennsauken parking lot
for more than a week, sending local officials and the FBI scrambling.
The New Jersey Office of Counterterrorism has asked all the state's law
enforcement agencies to look for the truck. "We don't know what the
motive was behind the theft," FBI spokeswoman Linda Vizi said. "It
could have been stolen by another individual in the fuel-hauling
business. But we feel it's important to find it, find out who took it,
and find out why it was taken."

A letter purporting to come from Osama bin Laden's
militant Islamist al Qaeda network said a big attack on the United
States was in the final stages of preparation, a London-based Arabic
newspaper said on Thursday. "We bring the good news to Muslims of the
world that the expected 'Winds of Black Death' strike against America
is now in its final stage...90 percent (ready) and God willing near,"
the letter said. The letter, signed by the Abu Hafs al-Masri Brigades
which said it is part of al Qaeda, was sent to the London-based al-Quds
al-Arabi newspaper. A copy of the letter was faxed to Reuters in Dubai.
It was not possible to independently authenticate the letter.