Iraqi Gov't Agent Admits al-Qaida Killings

Jordanian man watching the confessions of an Iraqi man identified as Ziad Khalaf Raja al-Karbouly on Jordan state television while in a coffee shop in Amman, Jordan onTuesday, May, 23, 2006. Jordanian security forces arrested al-Karbouly, a senior Al Qaida in Iraq operative thought to be behind kidnappings and killings of foreigners when he was lured to Jordan, where he was arrested by intelligence agents and special anti-terrorism squads, the government said in a special 30-minute program .(AP Photo/Nader Daoud) (Nader Daoud - AP)

AMMAN, Jordan -- An Iraqi government contractor confessed on Jordanian television to kidnapping and killing on the orders of al-Qaida in Iraq before he was lured to Jordan and arrested.

The man, identified as Ziad Khalaf Raja al-Karbouly, said that he had kidnapped two Moroccan embassy employees and an Iraqi finance ministry official under direct orders from the terror group and its leader, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.

The man, also known as Abu Huthayfa, also said that he had killed a Jordanian truck driver.

"Al-Karbouly used his position as a customs clearing agent" on Iraq's border with Jordan to "facilitate his crimes," including kidnapping Jordanians and other Arabs crossing the desert, the Jordanian government said on the half-hour, prime time special Tuesday evening.

Customs clearing agents are private contractors who work at border crossings for the Iraqi government.

The suspect was lured out of Iraq and into Jordan, where he was arrested, the kingdom said.

It said al-Karbouly was al-Qaida in Iraq's point man for receiving goods stolen by Iraqi insurgents, to supply terrorist operations and for sale inside and outside Iraq.

In the television special, the suspect described working with others to capture two Moroccan embassy employees and two Kurds on the border, Iraq's economic lifeline. He said he coordinated their abduction with Yasser Mahmoud Harbi, whom he described as a top military aide to al-Zarqawi.

Al-Karbouly said al-Zarqawi knew details of the abductions and "sentenced both Moroccans to death." The Kurds were released, he said.

The suspected militant said he also abducted an unidentified assistant to Iraq's former finance minister, but that the man was released because he was a Sunni Muslim.

The slender terror suspect appeared to be in his mid-30s and wore a blue shirt and a beard. He appeared composed as he described his operations and contacts with al-Zarqawi's group, confessing to kidnapping and killing Jordanian truck driver Khalid al-Dessouki last September.

"I was instructed by al-Qaida leaders to get any Jordanian because Jordanians deal with the Americans and bring goods to them (in Iraq)," he said in a strong Iraqi accent.