Al Qaida hits out at Al Zarqawi's family

Amman: Al Qaida in Iraq has hit out at Abu Musab Al Zarqawi's family for disowning him.

In an internet statement, the group said: "Either the enemy of God (Jordan's King Abdullah) has forced you or threatened you to do this or you have voluntarily agreed and obeyed him."
 
Jordanian-born militant Al Zarqawi's family, the Khalyleh tribe, took out newspaper adverts severing all ties with him until "doomsday" after his group claimed responsibility for the triple suicide bombings in Amman which killed 57 people this month.
 
The family's adverts, which took up half pages in Jordan's three main newspapers, said: "As we pledge to maintain homage to your throne and to our precious Jordan ... we denounce in the clearest terms all the terrorist actions claimed by the so-called Ahmed Fadheel Nazzal Al Khalayleh, who calls himself Abu Musab Al Zarqawi".

"We announce, and all the people are our witnesses, that we - the sons of the Al Khalayleh tribe - are innocent of him and all that emanates from him, whether action, assertion or decision."

Zarqawi, as well as being the face of the insurgency in Iraq and claiming responsibility for a campaign of bombings and kidnappings, is also responsible for a spate of attacks on his native Jordan.

"A Jordanian doesn't hit himself with his own spear," the family wrote in the advertisements. "We sever links with him until doomsday."

The United States has offered $25 million for information leading to his capture.