In accord with At-Tawba 9:111, the Qur’an’s verse that promises Paradise to those who “slay and are slain” for Allah, A-Q has declared in a statement that the bombers in Jordan have chosen the “shortest route to receive the blessings of God.” This idea, rooted as it is in Islamic theology and tradition, is what the protestors in Jordan will have to combat if they really want to make sure that this sort of thing doesn’t happen again.
“Group: Four Iraqis Carried Out Bombings,” from AP:
AMMAN, Jordan – Police said Friday they had arrested 120 people, mainly Iraqis and Jordanians, in the nationwide manhunt for those behind the triple Amman hotel bombings. Al-Qaida in Iraq claimed the bombings were carried out by four Iraqis “” including a husband and wife team….
Jordanian authorities have not yet said with certainty that Iraqis were involved in Wednesday’s attack, Jordan’s deadliest ever, but speculation has been high that al-Zarqawi has been trying to spread his terror group’s influence outside of Iraq.
“All of these are Iraqis from the land between the two rivers,” the al-Qaida statement said, alluding to Iraq’s ancient name, Mesopotamia. “They vowed to die and they chose the shortest route to receive the blessings of God.”
The statement, signed in the name of the group’s spokesman, Abu Maysara al-Iraqi, claimed the four Iraqi bombers included a husband and wife “who chose to accompany her husband to his martyrdom.”…
“Al-Zarqawi you are a coward, Amman will remain safe,” chanted some 3,000 protesters winding through Amman past the city’s al-Husseini Mosque after midday prayers.