Sun Aug 21, 2005 9:41 AM ET
By Suleiman al-Khalidi
AMMAN (Reuters) - A rocket attack which narrowly missed two U.S. warships in Jordan may be a signal Iraq's al Qaeda leader Abu Musab al Zarqawi has opened a new front against Washington's closest Arab ally, security experts said on Sunday.
The two U.S warships were likely to be carefully chosen targets, the experts said. The vessels are among those that have been regularly docking and unloading supplies in the Red Sea port of Aqaba since the U.S. led the invasion of Iraq in 2003.
Jordanian intelligence experts say the attack using Katyusha rockets indicates Zarqawi may favor expanding military attacks to pro-U.S. ally Jordan to hurt Washington's war effort in Iraq.
"Zarqawi appreciates more than ever that by hitting the U.S. military in Jordan he would score not just a symbolic victory but maybe disrupt a hitherto safe supply route for the U.S. army into bases in the western desert (of Iraq)," said one intelligence expert and official who requested anonymity.
Jordan denies providing logistical backing to Washington's military campaign though the U.S. military have said in briefings it has used the country as a main supply route.
Friday's attack missed the USS Ashland and its sister ship the USS Kearsage and was the most serious on U.S. targets in the staunchly pro-Western kingdom since the killing of U.S. diplomat Lawrence Foley in Amman in 2002.
"This is the first time they actually penetrated in a well coordinated military operation. Zarqawi will have learned from this how to conduct a military operation in Jordan even if it missed its target...," one security official said.
The incident has stoked fears in a tightly policed country that has not seen the kind of attacks on tourist resorts and Westerners that have taken place elsewhere.
"The possibilities now exist of an increase in terror attacks and wider targets. It's unavoidable we have now become targeted like Saudi Arabia and Egypt," said Mahmoud Kharabsheh, a prominent deputy and a former senior intelligence official.
The last major attempt by Zarqawi's group last year was a plot to wage a chemical attack using suicide bombers against government and U.S. targets in the kingdom.
Audio tapes purportedly from Zarqawi have vowed to punish Jordan's rulers for "aiding the treacherous enemy America."
Security sources say Jordanian militants, who have become battle hardened in Iraq, may have brought their first hand fighting skills closer to home.
"It's premature to tell now but if the attackers trained in Iraq then this could be a very dangerous turn. We have so far only seen Jordanian militants heading to Iraq and blowing themselves up in suicide bombings," one former minister with ties to the intelligence community said.
Jordanian security officials say several hundred die-hard militants with links to other radical Arab groups have entered Iraq via Jordan and Syria since the U.S. invasion.
Sun Aug 21, 2005 8:36 AM ET
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - The U.S. military said on Sunday it had opened a criminal investigation into the killing by U.S. Marines of a relative of Iraq's ambassador to the United Nations.
A statement from the military said the commanding general of the II Marine Expeditionary Force had referred the case of the death of Mohammed al-Sumaida'ie to the U.S. Naval Criminal Investigative Service for further investigation.
"At the conclusion of the investigation, a report will be provided to the command for review and further action as appropriate," the statement said.
Mohammed al-Sumaida'ie, the son of ambassador Samir al- Sumaida'ie's first cousin, was shot dead near Haditha, western Iraq, as Marines were searching his family's home on June 25.
In July, ambassador Sumaida'ie, who has been Iraq's representative at the United Nations since last year, accused U.S. troops of killing his 21-year-old relative, an engineering student, "in cold blood" and demanded a full inquiry.
Sumaida'ie said at the time the ramifications of what he called a "serious crime" were enormous for the United States and Iraq. U.S. officials promised a thorough investigation.
The U.S. military has been accused many times since the 2003 Iraq invasion of killing innocent Iraqis in house raids or at roadblocks.
The military says its troops do everything they can to minimize civilian casualties and exercise restraint at all times.
Following complaints, some investigations have been launched and U.S. troops have been convicted of wrongful deaths. But Iraqis say it is often very difficult to get the military to open investigations.