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Israel-Palestine-Jordan |
Jordanian troops arrested in connection with Amman bombings |
2005-11-13 |
A NATIONWIDE hunt for the accomplices of suicide bombers who blew up three hotels in Amman, killing 57 people, has led to the arrest of at least 10 members of the Jordanian armed forces, triggering worries that Al-Qaeda has infiltrated the Arab army most closely allied to the West. As hotel workers mopped blood stains at the five-star hotels targeted by the bombers â believed to have been sent by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the leader of Al-Qaeda in Iraq â Jordanian security forces said they had arrested 120 people, mainly Iraqis and Jordanians. Security sources said they believed the bombers were Iraqi, but that they had received help from Jordanian soldiers who had been seduced by radical preachers secretly aligned with Zarqawi. âIt is true that Amman is swarming with Iraqis and Iraqis donât need a visa to enter Jordan,â a Jordanian security source said. âBut we suspect a triple suicide attack of such magnitude had to have been assisted by inside information.â Amman is home to about 500,000 Iraqis, ranging from refugees from the regime of Saddam Hussein who never went back to wealthy businessmen who find it a safer place to work than Baghdad. Iraqis working for Zarqawi, a Jordanian national who has a $25m American bounty on his head, are well financed and find it easy to fit in. The Jordaniansâ fear that Al-Qaeda might have infiltrated the armed forces was raised for the first time in August, when a missile was fired from the shore at an American warship in the Red Sea port of Aqaba. âThey are inside,â a security source said. âIt remains to be seen how many they are and how dangerous.â Al-Qaeda in Iraq appeared unusually anxious to justify the attacks, issuing on Friday the third statement since the bombs exploded at the Grand Hyatt, Radisson SAS and Days Inn hotels. Earlier statements justified the attacks by saying the hotels were âsewersâ for Israeli spies and westerners. The latest praised the bombers as âIraqis . . . (who) vowed to die and chose the shortest route to receive the blessings of Godâ. It said there were four bombers, including a wife who âchose to accompany her husband to martyrdomâ. Yesterday, however, Jordanian sources insisted there had been three male suicide bombers and no women. The Al-Qaeda messages appeared to be an appeal for Arab sympathy. Iraqis are seen in the Middle East as heroic resisters of the American âoccupation forcesâ. As a Jordanian national, Zarqawi would well know the pulse of Jordan. He was a petty thief jailed for 15 years, but released by King Abdullah in a traditional amnesty given when the king ascended the throne. If it was Zarqawiâs idea to try to elicit sympathy for his attacks, it appeared to have failed. Thousands of Jordanians have denounced him as a âtraitorâ. Analysts could not remember an incident that had caused such anger and revulsion to be voiced across the Middle East, largely because one of the bombers blew himself up at a wedding reception of 300 guests. Abdel Bari Atwan, editor of Al Quds Al Arabi, the independent Arabic newspaper, called Zarqawiâs attacks in Amman a âfatal blow to his popularityâ. Bruce Willis, the American film star, has offered $1m to any civilian who turns in Zarqawi or Bin Laden. |
Posted by:Dan Darling |
#7 triggering worries that Al-Qaeda has infiltrated the Arab army most closely allied to the West. Duhhhh, they've "infiltrated" our Army of One. We'd be smart to simply assume they are there, and act accordingly. |
Posted by: Besoeker 2005-11-13 19:37 |
#6 MESSAGE REPEAT:Kill one or two of the Wahabi-Salafi bankers: the BIG BOYS, and one or two BIG MULLAHS, and three quarters of this craziness will stop. No money for fertilizer bombs............. [airport announcer] Paging all hunter-killer teams to the white courtesy phone ... [/aa] |
Posted by: Zenster 2005-11-13 16:32 |
#5 I'm amazed at how they seem to be able to infiltrate us, but we can't seem to infiltrate them? Or are we? |
Posted by: plainslow 2005-11-13 12:45 |
#4 Depends on who's Ox gets gored. |
Posted by: Redneck Jim 2005-11-13 11:07 |
#3 Does anyone else see the irony of "outrage" at the Amman bombing, and the lack of "outrage" of similar bombings that kill innocent moslems in Iraq? |
Posted by: anymouse 2005-11-13 10:37 |
#2 MESSAGE REPEAT:Kill one or two of the Wahabi-Salafi bankers: the BIG BOYS, and one or two BIG MULLAHS, and three quarters of this craziness will stop. No money for fertilizer bombs............. |
Posted by: Whinesh Omelet6007 2005-11-13 09:56 |
#1 "Bruce Willis, the American film star, has offered $1m to any civilian who turns in Zarqawi or Bin Laden." Yippee Kayay, Muja F***er! |
Posted by: doc 2005-11-13 07:56 |