AMMAN, Jordan, Nov. 20 (UPI) -- The family and tribe of al-Qaida leader in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, disowned him Sunday in a large newspaper advertisement.
Local Jordanian newspapers published a large advertised statement addressed to King Abdullah II and signed by 76 members of the Khalayleh family of the prominent Bani Hassan clan, from which Zarqawi hails.
The statement, which included the signature of Zarqawi's brother, Sayel Fadeel Nazzal Khalayleh, and his cousins, pledged allegiance to the Jordanian monarch and denounced "all terrorist acts claimed by Ahmad Fadeel Khalayleh," Zarqawi's real name.
It added the Khalayleh family renounces him, his acts and statements, insisting that "anyone who dares to carry out such acts against our Jordan has no links to Jordan and did not drink from its water; therefore, we disown him until the day of judgment."
The statement came two days after an audio-tape attributed to Zarqawi's voice on an Islamic website threatened to strike against Jordan and its king again, warning Muslims against going to "immoral hotels," foreign embassies and military installations.
Zarqawi's al-Qaida in Iraq claimed responsibility for suicide attacks in three Amman hotels on Nov. 9 that killed 59 people and injured 100 others.
Zarqawi's Bani Hassan clan, one of the largest Jordanian tribes, disowned him two years ago as he was being tried in absentia for terror-related activities in the kingdom, in which he was sentenced to death.
