Tape Attributed to Militant Links Al Qaeda to Jordan Plot

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — A tape purportedly made by suspected Al Qaeda operative Abu Musab Zarqawi said his group was behind a failed plot to destroy Jordan’s secret service headquarters and warned the government that it faced unspecified “terrifying events.”

But the speaker on the seven-minute audiotape denied having a chemical weapon. Jordanian state television has broadcast confessions by militants allegedly linked to Zarqawi in which they say the group was plotting a chemical bomb attack.

“God knows, if we did possess it, we wouldn’t hesitate one second to use it to hit Israeli cities,” the speaker said.

The tape was available Friday on an Internet site known as a clearinghouse for statements by Al Qaeda and other terrorist groups.

Excerpts also were broadcast by the Dubai-based Al Arabiya satellite channel.

This week, a purported Zarqawi statement appeared on the same website claiming responsibility for an April 24 suicide boat attack on an Iraqi oil terminal in the Persian Gulf that killed three American service members.

The speaker on Friday’s tape said the Jordanian General Intelligence building was targeted for attack because “Jordan has turned itself into a hidden base of supplies for the occupying army in Iraq .... Terrifying events are awaiting you.”

The voice on the tape could not immediately be authenticated as that of Zarqawi, a Palestinian-Jordanian militant wanted by the United States for allegedly organizing terrorists to fight American troops in Iraq.

The United States has offered a $10-million reward for Zarqawi’s capture. He is believed to be a close associate of Osama bin Laden.