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CNN Live Saturday
2 Al Qaeda Members Confess to Killing U.S. Diplomat
Aired December 14, 2002 - 18:02 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: Surprising development today in the murder of a U.S. diplomat in Jordan. Jordanian officials say two members of al Qaeda have confessed to the killings.
CNN national correspondent Mike Boettcher shows us how Jordanian officials got a break in the case.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MIKE BOETTCHER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Laurence Foley was gunned down as he walked from his house to his car on the morning of October 28. Jordanian officials now say that the assassination was carried out by two men at the request of a senior al Qaeda leader.
These two men, Salem Saad bin Suweid, a Libyan national, and Yasser Faith Ibrahim, a Jordanian, were arrested by Jordanian intelligence and are said to have confessed to the assassination and to being al Qaeda members. Bin Suweid is said to have admitted training in an al Qaeda camp in Afghanistan.
According to Jordanian officials, the two men said they acted under orders of this man, Abu Musab Zarqawi, a man already convicted in absentia by the Jordanians for his role in planning to blow up tourist hotels in Aman during the millennium celebration.
Zarqawi's path has taken him from Jordan to Afghanistan and then, apparently, through Iran and Iraq after the U.S.-led coalition overthrew the Taliban. He was even singled out by President Bush during a recent speech about Iraq.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Some al Qaeda leaders who fled Afghanistan went to Iraq. These include one very senior al Qaeda leader who received medical treatment in Baghdad this year and who has been associated with planning for chemical and biological attacks.
BOETTCHER: Little is known about Zarqawi's connection to Iraq, but German authorities believe he runs al Qaeda's operations in Europe.
The two men now under arrest saw Zarqawi gave them weapons and $18,000 to carry out attacks on diplomats and other targets. According to the Jordanians, they picked Foley because he had no bodyguards.
The Jordanians say the break in the case came when this man, Mulamer Al-Jaghbeer, Zarqawi's lieutenant, called the men and congratulated them on their mission.
If this was an al Qaeda plot, then it is more evidence of how al Qaeda has changed its tactics since 9/11, choosing soft targets, using the tactic of assassination of diplomats anywhere it can in the world.
Mike Boettcher, CNN, Atlanta.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired December 14, 2002 - 18:02 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: Surprising development today in the murder of a U.S. diplomat in Jordan. Jordanian officials say two members of al Qaeda have confessed to the killings.
CNN national correspondent Mike Boettcher shows us how Jordanian officials got a break in the case.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MIKE BOETTCHER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Laurence Foley was gunned down as he walked from his house to his car on the morning of October 28. Jordanian officials now say that the assassination was carried out by two men at the request of a senior al Qaeda leader.
These two men, Salem Saad bin Suweid, a Libyan national, and Yasser Faith Ibrahim, a Jordanian, were arrested by Jordanian intelligence and are said to have confessed to the assassination and to being al Qaeda members. Bin Suweid is said to have admitted training in an al Qaeda camp in Afghanistan.
According to Jordanian officials, the two men said they acted under orders of this man, Abu Musab Zarqawi, a man already convicted in absentia by the Jordanians for his role in planning to blow up tourist hotels in Aman during the millennium celebration.
Zarqawi's path has taken him from Jordan to Afghanistan and then, apparently, through Iran and Iraq after the U.S.-led coalition overthrew the Taliban. He was even singled out by President Bush during a recent speech about Iraq.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Some al Qaeda leaders who fled Afghanistan went to Iraq. These include one very senior al Qaeda leader who received medical treatment in Baghdad this year and who has been associated with planning for chemical and biological attacks.
BOETTCHER: Little is known about Zarqawi's connection to Iraq, but German authorities believe he runs al Qaeda's operations in Europe.
The two men now under arrest saw Zarqawi gave them weapons and $18,000 to carry out attacks on diplomats and other targets. According to the Jordanians, they picked Foley because he had no bodyguards.
The Jordanians say the break in the case came when this man, Mulamer Al-Jaghbeer, Zarqawi's lieutenant, called the men and congratulated them on their mission.
If this was an al Qaeda plot, then it is more evidence of how al Qaeda has changed its tactics since 9/11, choosing soft targets, using the tactic of assassination of diplomats anywhere it can in the world.
Mike Boettcher, CNN, Atlanta.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
