Washington Times:

AMMAN, Jordan (AP) — A Jordanian militant leader linked to al Qaeda warned Sunday that his extremist group will launch “deadly attacks” in neighboring Syria to topple President Bashar Assad, as Damascus lashed out at France for backing Syrian rebels.

In a speech delivered to a crowd protesting outside the prime minister’s office in Amman, Mohammad al-Shalabi, better known as Abu Sayyaf, told Mr. Assad that “our fighters are coming to get you.”

Abu Sayyaf is the head of the Salafi Jihadi group, which produced several al-Qaeda-linked militants who fought U.S. forces in Iraq and Afghanistan over the past 10 years. They also are blamed for the 2002 assassination of U.S. aid worker Laurence Foley outside his Amman home.

The militant leader was himself convicted in 2004 of plotting attacks on Jordanian air bases hosting American trainers, but he served his term and was released last year.