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Suspected bomber in Jordan detained, released by U.S. forces in '04
By Hannah Allam
Knight Ridder Newspapers
AMMAN, Jordan - One of the suspected suicide bombers in the deadly attacks on three luxury hotels in Jordan's capital apparently was detained and released last year by U.S. forces in Iraq who determined that he was not a threat to security, a U.S. military spokesman said Sunday.
The Jordanian government identified four suspected bombers Sunday: three Iraqi men who died in the attacks and an Iraqi woman who survived when her explosives vest failed to detonate. The name of one of the male attackers, Safah Mohammed Ali, matches the name of a man who was detained for about two weeks during fierce clashes between insurgents and U.S. Marines in Iraq's western insurgent stronghold of Fallujah, said the military spokesman, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Ali and the other suspected bombers killed 57 people and injured more than 100 during three nearly simultaneous bombings at upscale hotels in Amman on Wednesday. Al-Qaida in Iraq later claimed responsibility for the attack.
Insurgent sources in Iraq and one of Ali's colleagues at a factory in Fallujah said in separate interviews that Ali was detained in November 2004, when he was injured while fighting U.S.-led forces - information that corresponds with the U.S. military's account.
http://www.realcities.com/mld/krwashington/13159581.htm