Jordan releases leading al-Qaeda mentor
Jordanian authorities released on Thursday Sheikh Abu Mohammad al-Maqdisi, a leading al Qaeda spiritual guide, who was arrested last October, a security source told Reuters.
They said Maqdisi's release was ordered by the state security prosecutor. The reason for his release -- two days after the ultra-hardline Islamic State issued a video showing a captive Jordanian pilot being burned alive -- was not immediately clear.
The self-taught intellectual was seen as the spiritual guide of the slain al Qaeda leader in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, but later disowned him for killing civilians indiscriminately.
