Jordan Times
Sunday, November 20, 2005
Jordan defiant against
Zarqawi's terror threats
By Francesca Sawalha
AMMAN — Jordan remains defiant in the face of
fresh threats by Abu Mussab Zarqawi, with the government saying it does not
intend to dignify him with a reply, lawmakers branding him a “desperate man” and
a “liar,” and the Islamic movement reiterating his actions are against Islam.
Interior Minister Awni Yarvas on Saturday dismissed an Internet audiotape
released on Friday in which Zarqawi announced further attacks and warned
Jordanian Muslims to stay away from hotels, tourist sites, military
installations and embassies of countries involved in the 2003 Iraq war.
“We have taken all necessary measures,” Yarvas told The Jordan Times. “This tape
does not change anything.”
In the Internet message, the leader of Al Qaeda in Iraq said he “did not intend
to target Muslims” in the suicide bombings that killed 59 people — including 30
wedding guests — in three Amman hotels on November 9.
“We chose these hotels after more than two months of thorough checks,” news
agencies quoted the audiotape as saying.
“Trusted sources inside the hotels and elsewhere showed that they were centres
for the Jewish, American and Jordanian security,” Zarqawi said.
“The idea that they [the suicide bombers] blew themselves up at wedding
ceremonies is a lie by the [Jordanian] regime,” Osama Ben Laden's lieutenant
continued. “The target was a meeting of intelligence agencies, but a roof
collapsed on a wedding party from the explosion.”
By telephone, Yarvas initially commented that this last statement by Zarqawi was
“not correct,” but then immediately added that it didn't deserve an answer.
“Ridiculous and absurd” was how Senator Tareq Suheimat labelled Zarqawi's
version of the facts.
“We have witnesses, pictures and videos. You can go and see that the ceiling is
still there, only the false ceiling collapsed,” noted Suheimat, referring to the
horrific scene in the ballroom of Radisson SAS Hotel, where a wedding party was
devastated by one of the suicide bombings.
Islamic Action Front (IAF) leader Abdul Latif Arabiyat declared that Zarqawi was
“not saying the truth” in his Internet message.
“He sent people, they saw the celebrations and knew it was a wedding,” said
Arabiyat, who is the president of the Shura Council — the highest legislative
body of the IAF.
“In any case, even if what he says were true, it would not make a difference.
Islam does not allow any killing of any innocent people — whether the [suicide
bombers] blow up in a lobby or in a ballroom.”
Jordanian security apprehended a suspect who reenacted the operation in a
confession aired by Jordan Television on Sunday.
The Iraqi woman said she had entered the wedding hall at Radisson SAS with her
husband, but she failed to detonate her explosive belt and fled, while her
husband carried out the attack.
In addition to warning of more attacks, Zarqawi threatened a possible attempt on
the life of His Majesty King Abdullah.
“He does not scare us, we are not afraid,” Yarvas said. “We are all united and
greatly trust in our security forces.”
Senator Adel Shreideh emphasised that Jordanian intelligence successfully dealt
with numerous such threats in the past. “The government is ready, the
intelligence is ready, the people are ready,” he said defiantly.
Politicians said the Internet message showed that Zarqawi was aware that the
Amman attacks, for which he claimed responsibility and in which mostly Jordanian
Muslims were murdered, had significantly eroded whatever sympathy certain
segments of the population might have had for his anti-US operations in Iraq.
Jordanians reacted with outrage to the triple suicide bombings, taking to the
streets in several anti-terror marches over the past 10 days. An estimated
quarter of a million people participated in a march on Friday, chanting slogans
and carrying banners denouncing Zarqawi as “coward” and “enemy of God.”
A poll published in Al Ghad daily this week showed that two-thirds of Jordanians
had changed their views of Al Qaeda for the worse as terror hit home.
“Zarqawi is a desperate man,” commented Senator Suheimat. “He is trying to make
excuses for the carnage he [caused]. But the Jordanian people have already
answered him.”
According to Senator Shreideh, Zarqawi tried to defend attacks because “he
realised that in Jordan he has no support.”