Cairo: In an apparent response to Jordanians who took to the streets to call for its leader to "burn in hell," the al-Qaeda in Iraq took the rare step of trying to justify the triple suicide bombings which killed 56 people, mostly Arabs.
Earlier on Thursday, the group posted a web statement claiming responsibility, a move that was not unexpected.
But late in the day and after Arab-wide expressions of outrage, a second al-Qaeda statement appeared on the Internet to explain for Muslims part of the reason holy warriors targeted these dens.
"Let all know that we have struck only after becoming confident that they are centers for launching war on Islam and support the crusaders' presence in Iraq and the Arab peninsula and the presence of the Jews on the land of Palestine," the statement says.
According to the statement, the hotels were "favorite places for the work of the intelligence organs, especially those of the Americans, the Israelis and some western European countries" for what the group called "invisible battles in the so-called war on terrorism."
The statement also said the hotels, the Grand Hyatt, the Radisson SAS and the Days Inn were used by NATO as a rear base "from which the convoys of the crusaders and the renegades head back and forth to the land of Iraq where Muslims are killed and their blood is shed."
Striking a moral tone, the al-Qaeda manifesto said the hotels were a "secure place for the filthy Israeli and Westerners tourists to spread corruption and adultery at the expense and suffering of the Muslims in these countries."
Comments
0 comment