McCain corrects himself on which group Iran backs

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate John McCain, who is touting his foreign policy credentials, got tangled up briefly on Tuesday on which Islamic extremist group Iran is accused of supporting.

McCain, at a news conference in the Jordanian capital of Amman, accused Iran of supporting the Sunni extremist group al Qaeda in Iraq.

U.S. officials believe Iran has been backing Shi'ite extremists in Iraq, not a Sunni group like al Qaeda.

"Well, it's common knowledge and has been reported in the media that al Qaeda is going back into Iran and is receiving training and are coming back into Iraq from Iran. That's well known and it's unfortunate," McCain said.

Connecticut Independent Sen. Joe Lieberman, traveling with McCain on a swing through the Middle East and Europe, whispered in his ear and McCain quickly corrected himself.

"I'm sorry; the Iranians are training the extremists, not al Qaeda. Not al Qaeda. I'm sorry," McCain said.

Democrats quickly jumped on McCain, a strong backer of President George W. Bush's troop build-up in Iraq. McCain visited Iraq at the weekend.

"After eight years of the Bush administration's incompetence in Iraq, McCain's comments don't give the American people a reason to believe that he can be trusted to offer a clear way forward," said Democratic National Committee Communications Director Karen Finney.

McCain spokesman Brian Rogers said McCain "misspoke and immediately corrected himself by stating that Iran is in fact supporting radical Islamic extremists in Iraq, not al Qaeda -- as the transcript shows."

"Democrats have launched political attacks today because they know the American people have deep concerns about their candidates' judgment and readiness to lead as commander in chief," Rogers said.

(To read more about the U.S. political campaign, visit Reuters "Tales from the Trail: 2008" online at blogs.reuters.com/trail08/

(Reporting by Steve Holland, editing by Stuart Grudgings)