Voice claims Jordan terror plot
AMMAN, Jordan (CNN) -- A voice claiming to be terrorist leader Abu Mus'ab al-Zarqawi says his group was planning to bomb the Jordanian intelligence headquarters in Amman for what he said was the kingdom's collaboration with the United States and Israel.
"The Jordanian government is ahead of all the traitor Arab governments in their submission to the Jewish state," says the message, which was posted on an Arabic Web site.
CNN could not immediately verify the authenticity of the message.
Zarqawi is a suspected terrorist leader who has been linked to al Qaeda and whom U.S. officials have said is behind numerous attacks in Iraq.
A Web site posted a statement Monday attributed to Zarqawi, claiming responsibility for deadly weekend suicide attacks on two oil terminals in southern Iraq.
Zarqawi has also claimed credit for a score of attacks on coalition forces, including the August 19 bombing of U.N. headquarters in Baghdad that killed 23 civilians, one of whom was the U.N.'s chief envoy to Iraq, Sergio Vieira de Mello.
Targets al-Zarqawi has claimed responsibility for attacking include "the coalition forces in Karbala, the Italians in Nasiriya, the American forces in the Al-Khaldiya Bridge, the American intelligence in the Al-Shahine Hotel, the Coalition Provisional Authority in Baghdad, the CIA in the Al-Rashid Hotel, and the Polish military in Al-Hilla."
In the recording, the voice disputes some of the Jordanian accounts of the plot, specifically that a chemical attack was thwarted.
"God knows that if we ever acquire such a weapon -- and we pray that we will soon -- we will use it on Israeli cities like Eilat and Tel Aviv," the voice says.
"The brouhaha that the Jordanian security forces put together recently is nothing but a good dramatic performance to try to portray the Jordanians as victims of terrorism and targets of terror."
On Monday, Jordanian authorities said they had broken up an alleged al Qaeda plot that would have unleashed a deadly -- and never before used -- cloud of chemicals in the heart of Jordan's capital.
 |  Jordanian authorities said Azmi Jayyousi was the suspected ringleader in an alleged al Qaeda plot. |
The plot, according to the Jordanian government, would have been more deadly than anything al Qaeda has done before, including the September 11 attacks.
According to a report that aired on Jordanian television, the foiled attacks were to have targeted the U.S. Embassy, the Jordanian prime minister's office and the headquarters of Jordanian intelligence, among others.
The plot was within days of being carried out, Jordanian officials have said, when it was broken up last Tuesday by security forces.
The voice in Thursday's message said the Jordanian intelligence building was indeed a target.
"Our intention was to destroy the intelligence building to cut off the source of the black evil," the man says.
He charges the Jordanian government of lying when it said the plot was to kill innocent Muslims: "We will never do that. We will give our life for you instead."
He goes on to accuse the Jordanian government of allowing Americans to "send in Muslims to be tortured and jailed" in the kingdom, and that the Jordanian embassy in Baghdad was used to assist Israeli intelligence, "providing the Israeli spies with what they need from fake passports to documents."
Jordanian officials say that among those who were arrested in raid was the cell's alleged ringleader, Azmi Jayyousi.
On state-run Jordanian TV, Jayyousi made an extraordinary confession, admitting that he took orders from Zarqawi.
"I took advance explosives and poisons courses, then I pledged allegiance to Abu Mus'ab al-Zarqawi, to obey him without any questioning," Jayyousi said.
The voice in Thursday's message refers to that confession.
"As for the information that our brother Azmi al-Jayyousi provided, he did so as a result of torture. The signs of torture were apparent on his face and his hands," the voice says.
Senior Editor for Arab Affairs Octavia Nasr in Atlanta and CNNArabic.com Editor Caroline Faraj in Dubai contributed to this report
