Jordan Arrests 16 People Over Plot to Hurt National Security

(Bloomberg) -- Jordan said it arrested 16 people for involvement in an alleged plot to “undermine national security” in an operation that also uncovered weapons factories inside the kingdom. 

The detainees are accused of manufacturing missiles and drones, concealing a ready-to-use rocket and recruiting and training individuals in Jordan and abroad, state-run Petra news agency reported Tuesday, citing the country’s intelligence agency.  

Petra said the agency has been closely monitoring the group since 2021. 

Jordan has been on edge since the start of the war between neighboring Israel and Iran-backed militant group Hamas, and has repeatedly said displacing Palestinians is a national security risk. The country is home to US bases and has maintained a peace treaty with Israel since 1994. 

Read: Israel’s Fight With Islamist Groups Puts Arab World in Dilemma

In a televised briefing, the Jordanian government’s spokesperson Mohammad Al Mawmouni said the group was manufacturing missiles with a range of up to 5 kilometers (3.1 miles), suggesting the rockets were intended to be used locally. He said the detainees belonged to a group that was unlicensed and dissolved in Jordan. 

In a video released by the government and broadcast on local television, some of the accused said they were recruited by the Muslim Brotherhood, a transnational pan-Islamist movement banned in most Gulf and Arab states. Jordan dissolved the group in 2020. 

US President Donald Trump’s suggestion that Palestinians leave Gaza to nearby countries including Jordan has been rejected by Middle East governments. More than half the people in Jordan are Palestinian.   

(Updates with Trump Gaza plan in final paragraph.)

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