Militants Threaten Iraqi-Jordanian Highway

Militants Threaten Iraqi-Jordanian Highway
Militant Group Threatens to Block Iraqi-Jordanian Highway
The Associated Press

BAGHDAD, Iraq July 27, 2004 — Militants bent on disrupting the supply chain to the U.S. military threatened Tuesday to cut the highway linking Iraq to Jordan in 72 hours and said it would hit at Jordanians as well as Americans.

The threat, from a group calling itself "The Group of Death," was made in a video obtained by Associated Press Television News. The video showed seven men wearing black clothing and masks armed with rocket-propelled grenade launchers and rifles.

The group's warning comes amid a wave of kidnappings of foreigners, mainly truck drivers, entering Iraq from neighboring countries to delivering supplies and other cargo needed for this war-ravaged nation's reconstruction effort.

A militant who read a statement on the tape criticized Jordan, Iraq's western neighbor, for letting trucking firms enter Iraq to support the U.S.-led coalition.

"We consider all Jordanian interests, companies and businessmen and citizens as much a target as the Americans," the speaker said.

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