BERLIN, Nov. 13 (UPI) -- Intelligence officials say the triple suicide bombings in Jordan are a sign of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's growing independence from al-Qaida.
The Islamic guerrilla has emerged over the past two years as the best-known leader of the insurgency in Iraq, The Washington Post reports.
Some analysts and officials say Zarqawi has already eclipsed al-Qaida's founder, Osama bin Laden, in terms of prominence and appeal to Islamic radicals worldwide.
Zarqawi, who has sought for years to overthrow the monarchy in his native Jordan, has attracted hundreds if not thousands of fighters to Iraq, the newspaper said.
Jordanian officials said Saturday that Zarqawi's group carried out the bombings in Amman that killed nearly 60 people at three hotels Wednesday night.
"For Zarqawi, Iraq is a means to an end, rather than an end to a means," said Bruce Hoffman, a terrorism expert and director of the Washington office of the Rand Corp. "His road runs through Baghdad, but it doesn't stop there. It goes on to Amman, Tel Aviv, Riyadh and perhaps even Western Europe."
