Al-Qaeda: Sorry About Yemen Hospital Attack

Al-Qaeda, not necessarily the first organization one thinks of when one thinks of remorse, is apologizing for an assault on a hospital in a Yemeni defense ministry complex that killed 52 people, al-Jazeera reports. "Now we acknowledge our mistake and guilt," says al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula chief Qassim al-Rimi in a video released last night. "We offer our apology and condolences to the victims' families. We accept full responsibility for what happened in the hospital and will pay blood money for the victims' families."

There is an asterisk to the "full responsibility," however: AQAP is blaming a renegade fighter for disobeying orders in the Dec. 5 assault, saying that, "We rid ourselves of what our brother did. We did not order him to do so and we are not pleased with what he did." And lest one think that the terrorist organization is going the least bit soft, al-Rimi declares that "we are continuing with our jihad." (More al-Qaeda stories.)