Jordan's King Abdullah II and his family were the targets of a foiled terrorist attack planned by an Islamic group linked to Osama bin Laden, prime suspect in the attacks on the US, the Corriere della Sera newspaper said on Saturday quoting Jordanian secret services.
According to the paper, the attack was foiled in summer 2000 as the Jordanian monarch had just begun his summer holiday in Europe on his yacht, accompanied by his wife Queen Rania, who was pregnant at the time, and the two other children.
The paper said the plan was very detailed and the threat regarded as extremely serious. It involved ramming the yacht with a speedboat packed with explosives driven by suicide bombers. An attack on the same lines was carried out in October 2000 on a US warship off Aden in Yemen.
The alarm was raised in time and the Jordanian royal family returned immediately by plane to Amman, Corriere della Sera said.
The paper noted that the kingdom of Jordan, which is at peace with Israel and an ally of the United States, has for decades been a favored target of Muslim fanatics.
"Peace, moderation and balance has always been the target of terrorists," King Abdullah was quoted as saying recently in an interview with the daily -- ROME (AFP)
© 2001 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
