Massive security as royals visit

Amid massive security, the King and Queen of Jordan arrive at Heathrow today for a three-day state visit that will bolster Britain and America's fight against Osama bin Laden and his al Qaeda network.

King Abdullah will have meetings with Prime Minister Tony Blair, Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon and Chief of the Defence Staff Admiral Sir Michael Boyce to discuss the state of the Middle Eastern drive against terrorism.

Throughout his stay the king, 39, and Palestinian-born Queen Rania, 30, will be surrounded by armed police and their own former SAS bodyguards, as feelings in the Middle East run high against their pro-Western regime.

Al Qaeda is said to have sent suicide bombers to try to wipe out the royal family over its support for Britain and America and the country's hard line on Palestinian terrorists.

Last summer it was reported that attackers armed with explosives planned to ram a motorboat into King Abdullah's yacht in the Mediterranean while the family were on board, but the plot was foiled by intelligence agents.

Security for the visit, already high in the wake of the 11 September attacks, has been reviewed after Jordan admitted last month it helped to foil terrorist plots against the British, US, Jordanian and other embassies in Beirut. The plots were allegedly the work of Asbat al-Ansar, which is on a US list of terrorist groups linked to Bin Laden.

As the king and queen fly into Heathrow in their private Airbus 8340 jet, an armoured car will stand by on the tarmac before their 10-vehicle entourage is whisked to Abdullah's private estate on the edge of Windsor Great Park.

The house is guarded around the clock by former Gurkha soldiers as well as police from the Special Escort Group for the duration of his visit which starts officially on Tuesday after the couple spend three days on the estate.