cnn.com today:
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Jordan played a key role in thwarting terrorist attacks on two hotels in the Jordanian resort of Petra that allegedly were timed to amplify the September assaults on the United States, CNN has learned.
Sources close to Jordanian intelligence said three men allegedly involved in the plot were apprehended following the interception of a phone call. The call included the phrase "big wedding," which they said was an al Qaeda code to launch an attack.
The sources said that same call invoked the so-called "bayat," or personal oath of allegiance to Osama bin Laden.
Close intelligence cooperation between the United States and Jordan dates to 1989 when the late King Hussein warned U.S. leaders about the emergence of a network in Afghanistan headed by bin Laden, sources told CNN.
Those close ties have continued under the reign of Hussein's son, King Abdullah, who ascended to the throne after his father's death in 1999.
