Iraq asked Jordan to support the Maliki government’s fight against Sunni insurgents; Jordan expressed concern but said it does not interfere in Iraq’s affairs. Al Qaeda-linked cleric Abu Qatada was acquitted of a charge of conspiracy to commit terrorism; he faces another trial in September for allegedly planning terrorist acts in Jordan in 2000. The UK said Qatada, who was deported in 2013, is barred from returning to Britain. While in prison, Qatada managed to issue statements on the feud between the Al Nusrah Front and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Sham. Abu Sayyaf a.k.a. Mohammad Al Shalabi, the main spokesman for al Qaeda’s branch in Jordan, has said his group has nearly 2,000 jihadists in Syria; he also claims to lead some 5,000 Salafi jihadist followers in Jordan. Another Jordanian Islamist leader, Saad al Huneiti, has been in Syria trying to broker a truce between ISIS and Al Nusrah.
