The warning said anti-American terrorists could target locations where there would be large 2000 celebrations

The warning said anti-American terrorists could target locations where there would be large 2000 celebrations.
Jordanian government officials say that, according to preliminary investigations, the group planned to attack a settlement on the bank of the Jordan River, where John the Baptist is believed to have baptized Jesus, and Mount Nebo, where tradition says that Moses saw the promised land.
The 14 persons detained so far have been referred to Jordan’s military prosecutor for further interrogation. State Department issued a travel warning to Americans last weekend. targets and tourist sites in the kingdom during the millennium celebrations. The group comprises of 12 Jordanians, one Iraqi and an Algerian.
The U.S. government said the group is linked to bin Laden, the Saudi extremist wanted for last year’s bombing of the U.S embassies in Kenya and Tanzania which killed 224 people. Jordanian officials have not said the group is affiliated to bin Laden, but they do say Abu Omar, also known as Abu Kutadah, is close to the Saudi, who lives in Afghanistan.
The alleged leader of the group, Khalil Deek, a Jordanian, was extradited to Amman last week from Pakistan.
British Ambassador Christopher Battiscombe was quoted in The Jordan Times on Tuesday as saying London would cooperate with Jordan over Abu Omar.
“We are ready to provide facilities to Jordanian authorities, if they requested so,” he said.
Jordanian security officials say Abu Omar teaches Islamic theology at a London mosque.
Last year, a Jordanian court sentenced him in absentia to life in prison for a series of explosions, including one in the car park of an Amman hotel on April 30, 1998.
The U.S. Jordan is seeking the extradition from Britain of an alleged sponsor of an extremist group believed to be linked to Osama bin Laden, a well-informed official said Tuesday.

Jordan is seeking the extradition from Britain of an alleged sponsor of an extremist group believed to be linked to Osama bin Laden, a well-informed official said Tuesday.

“There are consultations with the British government for the hand over of Omar Abu Omar,” said the official, who insisted on speaking on condition of anonymity.
Abu Omar, 40, is suspected of financing the extremist cell that was arrested in Jordan last week on suspicion of planning to attack U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv sent a letter to the Israeli Foreign Ministry expressing concern and reminding Israel that U.S. police guard Israeli missions in Washington and New York, Foreign Ministry spokesman Aviv Shiron said.
“This has grave consequences for the security of our missions abroad,” Shiron told The Associated Press.. Video cameras have been installed in Jerusalem’s walled Old City to ensure the safety of the thousands of Christian pilgrims expected to visit.
The combination of the end of Ramadan, the millennium and concerns about possible emergencies caused by the Y2K computer bug have forced the Israeli police to be ready for the worst possible scenarios, Wilk said.
In another development Tuesday, the Israeli Foreign Ministry said that Israeli police decided to remove their protection from foreign embassies in Israel, due to budget cuts.
The U.S.

Some Christian sects have professed the belief that the rebuilding of the Jewish Temple will hasten the Second Coming of Jesus.
Two groups of Christian pilgrims have already been expelled by Israel, one being sent back to Europe, the other to the United States.
Wilk, the police commissioner, said he would deploy a record 12,000 officers in Jerusalem on New Year’s Eve, which also marks the last Friday of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
Some 400,000 Muslims attended prayers at the Al Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem last Friday and the number could reach half a million on December 31.
Three thousand police officers will be deployed on and around the Al Aqsa compound alone. Although Israel guards its border with Jordan carefully, people have in the past succeeded in crossing it illegally.
Apart from the threat from Islamic fundamentalists, Israeli officials dread the prospect of an attack on the Al Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem by Jewish or Christian extremists. The mosque is Islam’s third holiest shrine and is also located on the site of the first and second Jewish Temples.
The area is a potential flashpoint of religious conflict and is by far the most sensitive spot in the Middle East.
Jewish extremists have plotted to blow up the mosque in the past in the hope of rebuilding of the temple, but were caught and received jail sentences. authorities suspect that Algerian national Ahmed Ressin, whom they arrested as he arrived on a ferry from Canada with explosives and timing devices hidden in his car, was also sent by bin Laden and has accomplices who have not yet been caught.
Officials in Washington said both groups planned to attack American targets.
Two members of the ring arrested in Jordan are also at large, said a Jordanian official, speaking on condition of anonymity. The move comes alongside growing worldwide concern that terrorists may try to disrupt millennium celebrations.

Commissioner Yehuda Wilk said he has not received concrete warnings about possible terror attacks. “However, our working premise always is that the will to carry out attacks exists,” he said.
He said the huge crowds expected in Jerusalem’s walled Old City would pose a tremendous challenge to security forces.