Al-Qaeda's Jordanian-born Iraq frontman Abu Musab al-Zarqawi defended this month's deadly bombings in Amman in a purported voice recording posted on Friday as tens of thousands of his countrymen rallied to protest the attacks.
The audiotape insisted it had not been al-Qaeda's intention to target the wedding party which was hit in the Nov. 9 triple suicide bombings that killed 59 people, saying the group had information the hotels were being used by US intelligence agents.
"If we'd wanted to carry out bombings in the middle of a wedding, there are wedding halls all over the country and their doors are open," said the voice, whose authenticity could not immediately be verified.
"God knows that the decision to target these hotels was taken only after ascertaining that they had become bases for Jewish and America security services," the voice added.
"If we had wanted to kill innocents as the apostate [Jordanian] regime claims, we would not have resorted to sacrificing the lives of those who got through the security barriers," the voice said.
"It would have been much easier for us for them to have set off the bombs in a public place -- that would have been an easier target," the voice said.
In the aftermath of the attacks, even bloggers on extremist Islamist Internet forums had criticized Zarqawi for the strikes, with some calling on him to explain the purpose of attacks that killed mostly Jordanians.
The audiotape also warned Jordanians to stay away from luxury hotels like the three hit in this month's bombings, as well as the diplomatic missions of countries which took part in the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
It told them not to approach "US and British bases ... tourist hotels and all the embassies and consulates of countries that took part in the war in Iraq."
To end al-Qaeda attacks in Jordan, the tape demanded the departure of British and US troops from the kingdom, the closure of the US and Israeli embassies and an end to training in Jordan for Iraq's fledgling security forces.
It also demanded the closure of the Jordanian mission in Baghdad and of what it said were "secret prisons" on Jordanian territory.
The Internet posting came as at least 200,000 people marched though the center of Amman in the largest show of public anger over the bombings so far, police and organizers said.
Many protestors shouted slogans against the al-Qaeda Iraq frontman, chanting: "Zarqawi, from Amman, we say to you: you are a coward."
IDENTITY: A sex extortion scandal involving Thai monks has deeply shaken public trust in the clergy, with 11 monks implicated in financial misconduct Reverence for the saffron-robed Buddhist monkhood is deeply woven into Thai society, but a sex extortion scandal has besmirched the clergy and left the devout questioning their faith. Thai police this week arrested a woman accused of bedding at least 11 monks in breach of their vows of celibacy, before blackmailing them with thousands of secretly taken photos of their trysts. The monks are said to have paid nearly US$12 million, funneled out of their monasteries, funded by donations from laypeople hoping to increase their merit and prospects for reincarnation. The scandal provoked outrage over hypocrisy in the monkhood, concern that their status
The United States Federal Communications Commission said on Wednesday it plans to adopt rules to bar companies from connecting undersea submarine communication cables to the US that include Chinese technology or equipment. “We have seen submarine cable infrastructure threatened in recent years by foreign adversaries, like China,” FCC Chair Brendan Carr said in a statement. “We are therefore taking action here to guard our submarine cables against foreign adversary ownership, and access as well as cyber and physical threats.” The United States has for years expressed concerns about China’s role in handling network traffic and the potential for espionage. The U.S. has
A disillusioned Japanese electorate feeling the economic pinch goes to the polls today, as a right-wing party promoting a “Japanese first” agenda gains popularity, with fears over foreigners becoming a major election issue. Birthed on YouTube during the COVID-19 pandemic, spreading conspiracy theories about vaccinations and a cabal of global elites, the Sanseito Party has widened its appeal ahead of today’s upper house vote — railing against immigration and dragging rhetoric that was once confined to Japan’s political fringes into the mainstream. Polls show the party might only secure 10 to 15 of the 125 seats up for grabs, but it is
The US Department of Education on Tuesday said it opened a foreign funding investigation into the University of Michigan (UM) while alleging it found “inaccurate and incomplete disclosures” in a review of the university’s foreign reports, after two Chinese scientists linked to the school were separately charged with smuggling biological materials into the US. As part of the investigation, the department asked the university to share, within 30 days, tax records related to foreign funding, a list of foreign gifts, grants and contracts with any foreign source, and other documents, the department said in a statement and in a letter to