WASHINGTON Ñ U.S. officials said Jordan's intelligence services have been among the most successful in foiling Al Qaida's bombing campaign throughout the kingdom and in arresting insurgency suspects. The officials said the operation demonstrated the high quality of Jordan's intelligence service, trained by the CIA.

"The Jordanian intelligence service did a great job of shutting that down," a Pentagon official told a briefing on Tuesday. "And it's across the board."

U.S. officials said Jordan has been besieged by insurgency plots. They said the plots are supported by Iran, Iraq and suspected insurgents have infiltrated from Afghanistan, Syria and Lebanon.

Earlier this month, Jordan's King Abdullah relayed to the Bush administration details of the arrests of suspected insurgents believed supported by Iran. At least 10 suspects linked to Iran are said to have been arrested late last year.

The Pentagon official said Jordan's efforts were the key to foiling the plot by Osama Bin Laden to bomb U.S. and Israeli installations in the kingdom and throughout the West. Jordan arrested about 30 people in connection with a bombing plot more than two years ago, information that was used by Washington in its investigation of Al Qaida plots.

"I think the millennium was a combination of good work, good intelligence work, good Ñ you know, sometimes it's luck," the official said. "You know, I think you've heard Ñ all heard that before, and it does come down to it, to some extent."

In a related development, Jordan's intelligence service has been rocked by the closure of a key technology supplier amid an investigation into millions of dollars in unsecured loans obtained by former military and security chiefs. So far, Jordanian authorities have either arrested or seized the passports of 65 people.

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