Attack on Jordanian Power Plant

Apparently this was the “civilian target” Jordanian security was refering to.

A group of al Qaeda militants arrested by Jordanian authorities had planned to blow up a major power plant that feeds the whole country, security sources said on Thursday.

…Two more Iraqis and a Saudi militant were believed to have fled to neighboring
Syria, they added without elaborating.

Officials said the attack, if carried out, would have been the deadliest in a series of recent strikes targeting Jordan.

“There have been smaller plots but this is by far the most serious in the last few months given the number of people involved, the weapons confiscated and (nature) of the target,” government spokesman Naser Joudeh said without elaborating.

…Officials said the 4 kg (9 pounds) of explosives matched those found with an Iraqi woman who failed to detonate her bomb at one of the three Amman hotels.

“Every time there is a foiled attempt there is increased vigilance based on newly acquired information,” Joudeh added.

…”Zarqawi now is depending on the Jordanian arena as a sphere of influence that is not less important than Iraq,” said Mohamed Najjar, an Amman-based expert on Islamists.

Security experts noted that in his latest attacks Zarqawi was using non-Jordanian Arab militants, primarily Iraqis, who came with battle-hardened experience to undertake operations inside Jordan and head back home.

“It’s clear that Zarqawi is now using the strategy of relying on Arabs and this is very dangerous because Jordan has an open doors policy toward Arabs and the ease of entry will facilitate matters despite precautionary measures,” Najjar said.

Non-Jordanians are harder to track down. [source]