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Al-Zarqawi Threatens to Kill Jordan's King
UPDATED: An audiotape in the name of al-Qaida in Iraq threatened on Friday to chop off King Abdullah II's head and bomb more hotels and tourist sites. The speaker on the tape, identified as Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, also said the group's suicide bombers did not intend to bomb a Jordanian wedding party at an Amman hotel last week, killing about 30 people.'Your star is fading. You will not escape your fate, you descendant of traitors. We will be able to reach your head and chop it off,' al-Zarqawi said, referring to the king. Al-Zarqawi told Jordanians to stay away from bases used by U.S. forces in Jordan, hotels and tourist sites in Amman, the Dead Sea and the southern resort of Aqaba and embassies of governments participating in the war in Iraq, saying they would be targeted. He underlined that al-Qaida in Iraq is not targeting fellow Muslims. 'We want to assure you that ... you are more beloved to us than ourselves,' he said, addressing Jordanians. The authenticity of the audiotape, posted on an Islamic militant Web forum, could not be confirmed independently, but the voice resembled that of al-Zarqawi on previous tapes. The tape was posted following widespread outrage over the Nov. 9 bombings against three Amman hotels that killed 59 people, 30 of them in a Jordanian-Palestinian wedding party held in a ballroom. Even contributors to militant Web forums _ who lionize al-Zarqawi and praise his attacks _ criticized the bombings, saying he should avoid civilians. Al-Zarqawi insisted that the striking of the wedding party at the Radisson SAS hotel was a 'lie' and a 'forgery' by Jordanian security officials. The Radisson bomber struck a hall where Israeli intelligence officials were meeting at the time, al-Zarqawi claimed. But part of the roof fell in on the wedding hall, either from the blast or even _ he said _ from a separate bomb placed in the roof, though not by al-Qaida. 'We didn't target them. Our target was halls being used by Zionist intelligence who were meeting there at the time,' he said. 'Our brothers knew their targets with great precision.' 'God knows we chose these hotels only after more than two months of close observation (that proved) that these hotels had become headquarters for the Israeli and American intelligence,' he said. Al-Zarqawi accused the Jordanian government of hiding casualties among Israeli agents. 'I defy the renegade government to show us the losses among the Jews,' he said. The Radisson attack involved two bombers _ an Iraqi husband and wife. Witnesses told Jordanian security officials that the couple talked their way into the wedding, telling hotel employees they wanted to watch, then went to different sides of the hall. When the woman's explosives belt failed to go off, her husband told her to leave, then he jumped on a table in the ballroom and set off his blast, Jordanian officials have said. In the tape, the Jordanian-born al-Zarqawi listed the reasons his group _ which has led a fearsome campaign of suicide bombings and other attacks against U.S. forces and Shiites in Iraq for two years _ is now targeting Jordan. He said Jordan has served as a protector for Israel and has allowed Israeli companies to take over its economy; allows the presence of 'secret American prisons' on its territory where 'dozens of mujahideen' are being held; and has become a 'swamp of obscenity' allowing alcohol and prostitution at tourist sites. Earlier Friday, thousands of flag-waving Jordanians thronged downtown Amman in the 'March of the Nation,' a noisy, emphatic demonstration against the hotel attacks. 'Al-Zarqawi, you coward, what brought you here?' the angry crowd shouted. 'Cease, cease, al-Zarqawi, you are a villain!' the throng chanted. 'Cease, Cease, you terrorist, you are a coward!' Jordanian television reported that 100,000 people took part in the march; however, that estimate could not be independently verified. The size of the crowd appeared to be much larger than protests last week in the days right after the bombings. Friday's marchers came from across Jordan in a show of solidarity in the demonstration organized by the Municipality of Amman. 'I came specifically to say to those terrorists and al-Zarqawi that we are all united against them. We do not want them on our land,' said Ghazi al-Hajjaj, 43, who traveled from Tafila, 115 miles south of Amman, to attend the rally. Palestinians from Jordan's 13 refugee camps also took part in the protest. The crowd of mostly men, many wearing Jordan's distinct red-checkered keffiyeh around their necks, marched from the downtown Al-Husseini mosque following Friday prayers. Soldiers stood watch along the streets as the marchers passed. Some men brought their families with them. Aya Abu-Ghosh, 9, came with her father and siblings. 'I came here to say to terror: Get out of our home. We don't want you. You scare us.' Many demonstrators lifted photos of King Abdullah II and carried banners denouncing the attacks in general and al-Zarqawi in particular. 'Al-Zarqawi, you are the enemy of God,' one read. The two-hour march concluded with a rally at a downtown square, where many dignitaries and Muslim and Christian clergymen addressed the crowd. 'The bombings of Amman proved that the bones of Jordan are harder and our unity is stronger,' said Monsignor Nabil Haddad, head of the Melkite Catholic community. One speaker, who did not give his name but told the audience that he was a member of Bani Hassan, al-Zarqawi's tribe, recited a poem condemning terrorism. 'You terrorist, you are a traitor and whoever follows your ideology is also a traitor, too. Go to hell, you son of Satan,' he read. Posted by: Steve 2005-11-18 |
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