Not a martyr after all?

After demonstrations in Baghdad and Najaf protesting the Hillah bombing, which newspapers claimed was the work of Jordanian native Raad al-Banna, his family is denying that their son was involved in the bombing.

Yet, the family's words belie their actions:

But perhaps the most puzzling aspect is the obituary that appeared March 10 in Al Ghad, which was paid for by the family.

"Announcing the death of a martyr," the obituary read, "who got his martyrdom in the Iraqi land at the age of 32. Don't think that those who were killed for God are dead - quite the contrary. They are alive, and are even born again."

Mansur Banna, the father, said that in his grief he could not bring himself to write the obituary, and that friends and family members had written it for him. He had not meant to imply that he was celebrating his son's participation in the Iraqi insurgency, he said. He said his son was referred to as a martyr because, according to the Koran, anyone who dies outside of his country is considered one and therefore worthy of congratulations.

Update:

Jordanian authorities have arrested a journalist who wrote that a Jordanian national carried out the suicide bombing in Iraq last month that cost 118 lives, the official Petra news agency said.

Via Chrenkoff