AMMAN, Jordan, March 7 (UPI) -- The Jordanian authorities said there was a plot to assassinate U.S. President George W. Bush during his visit last November.
Judicial sources said three suspects were indicted Wednesday at the State Security Court on charges of "conspiracy to commit terrorist acts and possession of unlicensed automatic weapons and illegal explosives for illicit use."
They added the three men were charged with planning to assassinate Bush and blowing up the U.S. and Danish embassies in the capital, Amman.
The American president came to Amman last November and met with Jordan's King Abdullah and Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki amid extra tight security across the kingdom.
The three suspects were identified as Nidal Momani, 29, Sattam Trad, 28, and Tharwat Ali Daraz, 24. All hail from the impoverished town of Zarqa, the same hometown as Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the al-Qaida leader in Iraq who was killed in a U.S. air strike last year in Iraq. The sources did not say whether the suspects were al-Qaida affiliates.
The authorities said they discovered the plot and arrested the suspects on the day Bush arrived on Nov. 28.
The unveiling of the alleged plot came as King Abdullah is due to address a special joint session of Congress Wednesday and after talks with President Bush at the White House.
