Jordan's King Abdullah yesterday described Jordanian extremist Abu Mussab Al Zarqawi as a "street thug" who, despite being the "most wanted" man in Iraq for his suspected role in attacks there, is not as smart and threatening as he has been depicted. "It's a long history, but he was basically involved in criminal gangs," Abdullah told CNN's Late Edition when asked how Zarqawi ended up in Iraq. "He was basically a street thug. That's probably the best way I can describe it," he said.
Zarqawi spent around eight years in jail in Jordan before being released under a royal amnesty in 1999. He had been sentenced to 15 years of hard labour in a case involving membership of an Islamist group. Zarqawi made his way to Afghanistan to fight with the Mujahideen before heading to Iraq, Abdullah said. "You say that he's the most wanted man in Iraq. I think that the press made him much more capable than actually he really is," Abdullah told CNN.
Jordan, the king said, is working with the international community to hunt him down, "and hopefully the net is closing in on him." The US-led coalition blames Zarqawi for at least 25 attacks in Iraq. There is a $25 million bounty on Zarqawi's head. |