Al-Zarqawi: Bombers didn't target wedding

Well, it's too late for the victims of the bombing.

From AP:

An audiotape purportedly from the head of al-Qaida in Iraq said Friday the group's suicide bombers did not intend to bomb a Jordanian wedding party at an Amman hotel last week, killing about 30 people.

The speaker on the tape, identified as Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, said the bomber who detonated his explosives in the Radisson SAS hotel on Nov. 9 was targeting a hall where he claimed Israeli and American intelligence officials were meeting.

That bomb caused part of the roof to fall in the wedding hall.

Al-Zarqawi accused the Jordanian government of hiding casualties among Israeli and American intelligence agents, and he insisted al-Qaida in Iraq was not targeting fellow Muslims.

"We want to assure you that ... you are more beloved to us than ourselves," al-Zarqawi said, addressing Jordanians.

Earlier today in Iraq, two Shiite mosques were bombed, killing at least 74 people. Although there has been no claim of responsibility, al-Qaida in Iraq must be the chief suspect.

If they were behind this latest bombing, then I those Shiites are "less beloved to us than ourselves."

Technorati tags: Al Iraq Jordan amman