Jordan Detains Zarqawi's Brother-in-Law

AMMAN, Jordan – Jordanian police have detained the brother-in-law of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi (search), an anti-American militant who is the most wanted man in Iraq, relatives and government officials said Tuesday.

Government officials declined to say why Saleh al-Hami (search) was held for questioning, but one official said it was not related to any suspicion of terrorism. The officials spoke on customary condition of anonymity.

The television channel Al-Jazeera said al-Hami was arrested after he appeared on one of its talk shows and spoke about the life of al-Zarqawi. The channel did not say when the program was aired.

A female relative who answered the telephone at the al-Zarqawi family home said al-Hami was detained Tuesday morning. She said she did not have other details and declined to identify herself.

Al-Zarqawi, whose real name is Ahmad Fadhil Nazzal al-Khalayleh, is a Jordanian allegedly connected to the Al Qaeda terror group. He is wanted by both Jordanian and American authorities. The United States has offered $25 million for information leading to his capture.

His Tawhid and Jihad group is believed to be behind a series of attacks on police and security forces in Iraq that killed 100 people in the days leading up to the coalition forces' handover of power to an Iraqi interim government last month.

The group claimed responsibility for the beheading of American businessman Nicholas Berg (search) and South Korean translator Kim Sun-il (search).

A Jordanian military court has sentenced al-Zarqawi to death in absentia for taking part in a terror conspiracy targeting Americans and Israelis in Jordan.

Al-Zarqawi took his name from the city he used to live in, Zarqa, 17 miles northeast of the Jordanian capital. He hails from the prominent Bani Hassan Bedouin tribe.