Al Qaeda suspects arrested in Jordan

Associated Press published a story on Sunday that appears not to have been picked up by any major media. (I guess they were too excited about the bombing of Christian churches in Iraq to find space for it.)

Three more militants have been arrested since April in connection with an al-Qaida-linked plot to attack the U.S. Embassy and Jordanian government offices with chemical and conventional weapons, officials said Sunday.

The arrests announced Sunday bring to nine the number detained in the alleged plot. Four others were killed in a police shootout on April 20, while another four remain at large, including Jordanian militant Abu-Musab al-Zarqawi, thought to be directing anti-U.S. attacks in neighboring Iraq and to be a close associate of al-Qaida boss Osama bin Laden, the officials told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.

They said the 17 militants were all affiliated with a previously unknown group called Kata'eb al-Tawhid, Arabic for the Battalions of Monotheism, which is linked to the al-Qaida terror organization.

Azmi al-Jayousi, the alleged mastermind of the Jordan-based terror cell who was captured in April, has confessed to military prosecutors about what would have been al-Qaida's first chemical attack, the officials added. Jordanian officials say the plot targeted the Jordanian prime minister's office, the secret service agency, the U.S. Embassy in Jordan and other sites.

The suspects are expected to be charged in a military court with conspiracy to commit terror. No trial date has been set.

This story should have gotten a lot more coverage than it did. Terrorists attempting to (or even planning to) use weapons of mass destruction should be front page news.

Where did the chemicals come from? How did Zarqawi's followers obtain them? How much more do they have? No one in the press has asked these questions. Why do you suppose that is?

Soure: Lexis-Nexis search (sorry, no links)