Relatives of a key al-Qaida operative reported killed earlier in the month, Nidal Arabiyat, celebrated his martyrdom in Jordan Saturday. Al-Jazeera, the Arabic language TV network, reported from his family home that Nidal’s father said he was pleased with the news of the martyrdom of his son in what he considers to be legitimate resistance to the American presence in Iraq.
| I'm also pleased that the lad is gone. Wotta coincidence! |
Nidal, about 30 years old, was reputed to be an aide to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, a senior al-Qaida aide reported to be in charge of operations in Iraq.
The family members remember Nidal as someone who left his hometown of Al-Salt city around 1990 with about 50 others to search for God. Al-Jazeera reported that Al-Zarqawi, who grew up elsewhere in Jordan, left his hometown about the same time, going to Pakistan and then Afghanistan to fight Russians before returning to Jordan where he stayed in touch with his al-Qaida on the Internet. The network played the audio tape Al-Zarqawi issued, recruiting fighters to act against Americans. Yet people in his home town remain split on whether he became a terrorist or whether he is acting as a resistance fighter against an occupying country, the network said. |