Suicide bombers, belonging to al Qaeda network, carried out nearly simultaneous attacks on three hotels in Amman Wednesday night, killing at least 59 people and injuring about 100.
The blasts hit the Grand Hyatt, Radisson SAS and Days Inn hotels just before 9 p.m. One of the blasts took place st a wedding hall where 300 guests were celebrating - joined by a man strapped with explosives who had infiltrated the crowd.
King Abdullah II, who returned back home from Kazahstan Thursday dawn visited the Grand Hyatt Amman and Radisson SAS hotels. He looked into the damages resulted from these explosions. The Jordanian monarch stressed the need to take more measures to protect citizens and the Kingdom's guests, to keep Jordan as "a model in security and stability." The king said later, during a meeting of the National Security Council, that the terrorist explosions which killed the Jordanians and their Arab and foreign guests targeted Jordan's security and stability. The King expressed his confidence in the security apparatuses to arrest the "terrorist gangs" and to reveal their plans that aim at convulsing Jordan's security and frightening its people.
Al-Qaeda in Iraq, led by Abu Musaab al Zarqawi on Thursday claimed responsibility for the attacks. The network announced responsibility on an Islamist web , linking the blasts to the war in Iraq and called Amman the "backyard garden" for U.S. operations. Earlier, Jordanian Deputy Prime Minister Marwan Muasher said that investigations showed that Abu Musaab Zarqawi is the main suspect. Earlier, Jordan's deputy prime minister, Marwan Muasher, said that Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the Jordanian-born leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq, was a "prime suspect." He added that authorities had sealed the kingdom's land borders. Muasher denied that the Jordanian government has received warnings from any party ahead of the attacks.
The Jordanian cabinet has expressed feeling of bitterness and denunciation over the suicide bombings. "The cowardly terrorist acts targeted innocent people and claimed lives of dozens of civilians and over one hundred were injured in the terrorist explosions," said a cabinet statement issued following an emergency meeting chaired by Prime Minister Adnan Badran immediately after hearing the news about the blasts. "These cowardly acts, which contravenes with our Islamic religion and our genuine Arab values, will not sway Jordan from pursuing its efforts for combating all forms and types of terror regardless of its motives and causes," said the statement.
Muasher declared that 59 people were killed, including the three bombers, and 96 were injured. Victims were: 33 Jordanians, 6 Iraqis, an Indonesian, a Saudi, a Syrian, two Bahrainis, and two Chinese,'' added Muasher, noting that another 14 victims have not been recognized yet.
Two Palestinian security officials were among at least four Palestinians killed, Attala Kheri, the Palestinian envoy to Jordan, said on Thursday. Among the victims was Palestinian military intelligence chief in the West Bank Maj.-Gen Bashir Nafe’ (Abu el-Walid).
Three Chinese were among those killed and one was injured, all from the Defense University of the Chinese People's Liberation Army - an elite military training university, the Foreign Ministry in Beijing said Thursday. An Israeli Arab businessman was among those killed in the blasts. The 40 year old man was a guest at the wedding held at the Radisson Hotel and his body was taken to the Jordan University Hospital in Amman, where it was identified by a local friend, Haaretz reported.
The White House said the United States was prepared to offer help in the investigation. In a statement, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said "such wanton acts of murder against innocent people violate every faith and creed." She pledged to Jordan that the U.S. would "stand together, unwavering, to defeat the evil that threatens our people and way of life."
U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, who is on a trip in the Middle East, canceled a scheduled visit to Jordan because of the attacks.
On Thursday, a huge demonstration, in which Jordanian professional syndicates, political parties and civil society organizations participated, moved from Hyatt hotel area. Participants raised Jordanian flags and placards condemning the terrorist acts.
