Ex-cellmate says al-Zarqawi was tortured
11/20/2005, 5:09 p.m. ET
By TANALEE SMITH
The Associated Press
AMMAN, Jordan (AP) — A man once imprisoned with Iraq's most feared terror leader said Sunday that Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was tortured regularly by Jordanian prison officials in the late 1990s and was held six months in solitary confinement.
Offering possible partial clues as to why the Jordanian-born al-Qaida leader chose Amman for triple hotel bombings earlier this month, the former cellmate, Yousef Rababaa, said: "He hated the intelligence services intensely, and the authorities didn't know how to deal with his new ideology."
Al-Zarqawi, whose real name is Ahmed Fadheel Nazzal al-Khalayleh, has claimed responsibility for the Nov. 9 suicide attacks in the Jordanian capital that killed 60 people, mostly Muslims.
Reacting with outrage to al-Zarqawi's latest threat — to kill Jordan's king — members of his own family, including a brother and cousin, disavowed him publicly on Sunday.
A U.S. official, meanwhile, said Sunday that efforts were under way to determine if al-Zarqawi was among eight suspected al-Qaida members killed the day before in a gunfight in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the information. Three of the insurgents detonated explosives and killed themselves to avoid capture, Iraqi officials said.
Rababaa, who spent three years in jail with al-Zarqawi until both were freed under a royal amnesty in 1999, recalled his cellmate's inflexible, radical Islamic ideology.
"He divided the world between Muslim and infidels," Rababaa said, adding that al-Zarqawi was quiet at the time and did not show a violent nature.
"I didn't see that side of him, although he had very strong opinions. I am very surprised at where he is today," said Rababaa, suggesting that maybe someone helps al-Zarqawi plan his terror operations.
"He had very little education, only medium intelligence. But he was very brave," Rababaa said.
He did not specify how he knew al-Zarqawi had been tortured or offer any specific evidence to back the claim.
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By TANALEE SMITH
The Associated Press
AMMAN, Jordan (AP) — A man once imprisoned with Iraq's most feared terror leader said Sunday that Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was tortured regularly by Jordanian prison officials in the late 1990s and was held six months in solitary confinement.
Offering possible partial clues as to why the Jordanian-born al-Qaida leader chose Amman for triple hotel bombings earlier this month, the former cellmate, Yousef Rababaa, said: "He hated the intelligence services intensely, and the authorities didn't know how to deal with his new ideology."
Al-Zarqawi, whose real name is Ahmed Fadheel Nazzal al-Khalayleh, has claimed responsibility for the Nov. 9 suicide attacks in the Jordanian capital that killed 60 people, mostly Muslims.
Reacting with outrage to al-Zarqawi's latest threat — to kill Jordan's king — members of his own family, including a brother and cousin, disavowed him publicly on Sunday.
A U.S. official, meanwhile, said Sunday that efforts were under way to determine if al-Zarqawi was among eight suspected al-Qaida members killed the day before in a gunfight in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the information. Three of the insurgents detonated explosives and killed themselves to avoid capture, Iraqi officials said.
Rababaa, who spent three years in jail with al-Zarqawi until both were freed under a royal amnesty in 1999, recalled his cellmate's inflexible, radical Islamic ideology.
"He divided the world between Muslim and infidels," Rababaa said, adding that al-Zarqawi was quiet at the time and did not show a violent nature.
"I didn't see that side of him, although he had very strong opinions. I am very surprised at where he is today," said Rababaa, suggesting that maybe someone helps al-Zarqawi plan his terror operations.
"He had very little education, only medium intelligence. But he was very brave," Rababaa said.
He did not specify how he knew al-Zarqawi had been tortured or offer any specific evidence to back the claim.
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posted by Kangaroo Brisbane Australia at 5:48 PM
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