Abu Musab al-Zarqawi’s bombings in Amman, Jordan last week continue to backfire vis-à-vis Arab/Muslim public opinion. On Friday, 100,000 Jordanians marched through the streets of Amman to denounce al-Qaeda’s top man in Iraq. Today, Zarqawi was disowned by his own Bedouin clan. Reports the BBC:

Abu Musab al-Zarqawi’s influential kinsmen took out adverts in three top Jordanian papers saying they had cut all ties with their relative. …

“We denounce in the clearest terms all the terrorist actions claimed by the so-called Ahmed Fadheel al-Khalayleh, who calls himself Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, and affirm that we the sons of the Khalayleh tribe, repudiate him,” the statement read.

“We announce, and all the people are our witnesses, that we are innocent of him and all that emanates from him, whether action, assertion or decision.”

It was signed by 57 members of the Al-Khalayleh clan, which is a branch of the Bani Hassan - one of the area’s largest and most prominent Bedouin tribes.

Zarqawi has made several attempts at public relations (damage control), but has failed miserably. And his genocidal campaign against Iraq’s Shiites continues unabated.

Hmmm… Denunciations and mass protests at an attack on a Jordanian wedding, but silence as Shiite Muslims are slaughtered in the thousands. Maybe there is a sea change in Muslim sentiments for al-Qaeda, but it still is a small one…