Abu Qatada Criticizes Hizbullah, Says Suicide Bombings 'Defense Act'
Islamist cleric Omar Mahmoud Othman, who is also known as Abu Qatada, strongly criticized Hizbullah on Thursday, calling on the cabinet to “pressure” the party to stop its involvement in the Syrian war.
Abu Qatada, who is being tried in Jordan on terrorism charges, also expressed his support to suicide bombings carried out by the al-Qaida linked Al-Nusra Front in Lebanon and Abdullah Azzam Brigades on Lebanese territories.
"I support the bombings in Beirut. The leader of Hizbullah (Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah) sent fighters to Syria to back the regime. He is responsible for those killed in Lebanon," he told reporters at the state security court in Amman.
"If Lebanon wants to protect itself, it should tell the party of the devil to get its fighters out of Syria," he added in a swipe at Hizbullah.
"The party of the devil started all of this. It should be pressured to get out of the Syrian conflict," Abu Qatada added, describing the bombings in Lebanon as "self-defense operations."
Palestinian-born preacher Abu Qatada was condemned to death in absentia in 1999 for conspiracy to carry out terror attacks, including on the American school in Amman.
However, the sentence was immediately commuted to life imprisonment with hard labor.
In 2000, he was sentenced in absentia to 15 years for plotting to attack tourists in Jordan during millennium celebrations, and videotapes of his sermons were allegedly found in the Hamburg flat of 9/11 ringleader Mohammed Atta.
He has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Britain expelled him last summer after Amman and London ratified a treaty guaranteeing that evidence obtained by torture would not be used in his retrial and that the proceedings would be transparent.
After his deportation, Abu Qatada was granted a retrial in line with Jordanian law, and military prosecutors charged him with conspiracy to carry out acts of terrorism.
If convicted, he could face a minimum of 15 years' hard labor.
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