'Bombings aimed at Israeli intelligence'
Leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq says in audiotape that group did not mean to blow up Muslims in Amman terror attacks; threatens Jordan's king
Suicide bombings killed 54 people in Amman hotels last week, provoking outrage in Jordan despite the high level of support in the country for the activities of the Jordanian-born Zarqawi in Iraq. Most victims were Muslim Jordanians at wedding parties.
In the tape, posted on an Islamist Web site often used by insurgent groups in Iraq, Zarqawi defended the suicide blasts on three hotels saying al Qaeda had inside information that they were used by U.S., Israeli and Jordanian intelligence agencies.
"We ask God to have mercy on the Muslims, who we did not intend to target, even if they were in hotels which are centers of immorality," the voice on the tape said.
"The idea that they blew up inside wedding ceremonies is a lie by the Jordanian regime ... the target was a meeting of intelligence agencies, but a roof collapsed on a wedding party from the blast," he said.
The voice sounded like Zarqawi's but it was not possible to verify the authenticity of the tape immediately. "The CIA is aware of the tape and we are looking into it," a U.S. official said in Washington.
Tape threatens Jordan's king
Al-Qaeda in Iraq is one of the main groups leading an insurgency against U.S. forces and the U.S.-backed government.
"We chose these hotels after over two months of thorough checks with trusted sources inside the hotels and elsewhere showed that they were centers for the Jewish, U.S. and Jordanian security apparatus," Zarqawi said.
Al-Qaeda in Iraq had already claimed responsibility for the blasts and named the attackers as four Iraqis including a woman. She failed to blow herself up, confessing on Jordanian television last week that she had tried.
Zarqawi warned Jordan's King Abdullah he could meet the same fate as a tribal warrior who fought the Prophet Mohammad.
"Here is another message to the little tyrant of Jordan. I address you after you threatened a nasty fate for those behind the blasts. Listen to these words," he said, before relating the tale of Abu Jahl, who Muslim lore says lost his head in battle.
Indicating there might be further attacks, Zarqawi warned ordinary Jordanians to avoid large hotels, military installations and embassies of countries involved in the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq.
