"If it exploded, it could have killed and destroyed anything within 5 kilometers or further, " Sallal said.

CNN: STORY HIGHLIGHTS

The plant employed 790 people, including 134 foreign workers, Sallal said Monday.

CNN: STORY HIGHLIGHTS

But regional analysts believe the operation was too sophisticated to have been planned so quickly, and Sallal said the hostage scheme had been hatched over months.

CNN: STORY HIGHLIGHTS