Suicide bombers carried out nearly simultaneous attacks on three United States-registered hotels in the Jordanian capital on Wednesday night, killing at least 57 people and wounding up to 300 in an al-Qaeda-style assault on the Arab kingdom with close ties to the US and a border with Iraq.
Deputy Prime Minister Marwan Muasher said most of those killed were Jordanians but did not give a full breakdown of nationalities in the strikes in the explosions that rocked the Grand Hyatt, Radisson SAS and Days Inn hotels just before 9pm local time.
Muasher said there was no claim of responsibility but that Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the Jordanian-born leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq, was a “prime suspect”.
A security official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to address the media, said the dead included at least three Asians, possibly Chinese. He said the injured were of different nationalities, including Germans, a US citizen of Arab origin, Egyptians, Saudis and Iraqis.
Famed Syrian movie director Mustafa Aqad was among the injured and his daughter was killed, the official added.
Bomber possibly Iraqi
Initial police reports showed that the suicide bomber at the Grand Hyatt was possibly Iraqi, the official said. He said the middle-aged man, strapped with explosives under his Western-style suit, was stopped by suspicious security officials in the hotel’s lobby.
Speaking in an Iraqi accent, the man said he was “looking around”, and then blew himself up, the official added, saying hotel cameras filmed some shots of him.
Muasher said Jordan’s land borders have been sealed and there are “more measures which will be undertaken soon”. He did not elaborate.
He said there have been no arrests yet, though security forces have fanned out across the capital and roads are closed. A security official said authorities are hunting suspects believed to have assisted in the attacks or looking for a potential sleeper cell that could carry out more attacks.
Muasher said two suicide bombers attacked the Hyatt and the nearby Radisson SAS. The Days Inn attack was carried out by an explosives-laden vehicle that blew up outside the hotel after failing to cross a police line.
Muasher said most of the victims at the Radisson were Jordanians attending a wedding banquet in a ground-floor reception hall, where a man strapped with explosives infiltrated the crowd.
“We thought it was fireworks for the wedding, but I saw people falling to the ground,” said Ahmed, a wedding guest who did not give his surname. “I saw blood. There were people killed. It was ugly.”
The groom suffered serious injuries; the bride was not hurt.
Amin Omar, a concierge at the Radisson, said Jordanian security forces have taken over the hotel and all foreign and local guests have been accounted for and returned to their rooms. He had no details on how many people were killed or wounded in the blast.
“This is a terrible, terrible situation. The explosion took place during a local Jordanian wedding and caused a lot of damage. Broken chairs, shattered glass, thrown tables,” Omar said. “Everything is still in a great fuss.”
King condemns attacks
King Abdullah II — who cut short an official visit to Kazakhstan and was returning home on Wednesday night — condemned the attacks.
“The hand of justice will get to the criminals who targeted innocent secure civilians with their cowardly acts,” he said in a statement carried by the official Petra news agency.
Following the attacks, security forces, including special anti-terror police units, fanned out across the Jordanian capital city. Police swiftly set up roadblocks across Amman, where they searched cars and checked passengers’ identification.
Special anti-terrorism units in armoured vehicles sealed off streets around diplomatic missions, government offices and hotels across the city. Police said Amman was virtually cut off from other cities because all highways leading to the capital were shut.
Prime Minister Adnan Badran declared Thursday a national holiday — apparently in order to allow tightened security measures to take hold.
Later, Badran met Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari, who is visiting Jordan.
“These attacks carry the trademark of al-Qaeda,” Zebari told reporters.
Al-Zarqawi ‘likely’ behind attacks
In Washington, a counterterrorism official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation is ongoing, said that it is “likely” that Jordanian-born militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was behind the attacks, although authorities have not yet reached any conclusions.
Al-Zarqawi has been sentenced to death in absentia in Jordan.
A contributor on a militant website hailed al-Zarqawi, assuming he had a role in the attacks.
“Strike, blow up, don’t have mercy, turn it upside down, heal our hearts. By God, striking the Jordanian entity, the foreigners, the Zionists, is more dear to us than striking America,” Abu Hajjar al-Shami wrote.
The hotels are frequented by American and European businessmen and diplomats. The Radisson, in particular, is popular with Israeli tourists, and was a target of several foiled al-Qaeda plots in the past, including a conspiracy to attack US and Israeli tourists during the kingdom’s millennium celebrations.
The American, Israeli and British embassies had no immediate reports of casualties among their citizens.
‘We were lucky to get out alive’
Briton Steve Olderman was attending a business dinner at the Grand Hyatt when the explosion hit.
“We heard an explosion and the whole hotel filled with smoke, and suddenly we found ourselves outside the hotel,” said Olderman, still looking startled.
“It was pretty horrific. We were sitting beside a huge plate-glass window and it just exploded beside us,” said Olderman, who was staying at the Radisson, one of the other targeted hotels. “We were lucky to get out alive.”
Arson experts arrived at the Grand Hyatt hotel shortly after the explosion to inspect the scene and ensure that there were no other bombs, according to an Associated Press (AP) reporter on the scene.
Black smoke rose into the night and wounded stumbled out of the hotels. The stone entrance of the Grand Hyatt was completely shattered. An AP reporter saw seven bodies carried out and many more wounded on stretchers.
Lori Armon, a spokesperson for the Illinois-based Hyatt Hotel Corporation, said the hotel had been evacuated and police had cordoned the area and assumed control of the hotel.
The three hotels have security guards hired from a private Jordanian firm stationed in the reception areas. Each of the hotels has one or two police cars guarding the buildings around the clock.
Annan condemns bombings
United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan, who is on a trip in the Middle East, strongly condemned the bombings and noted the people of the region have “particularly suffered from this scourge” of terrorism, spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said in a statement. Annan, who is currently in Jiddah, Saudi Arabia, cancelled his scheduled trip to Jordan because of the attacks.
Amman has become a base for Westerners who fly in and out of Iraq for work. The city’s main luxury hotels downtown are often full of American and British officials and contractors enjoying the relative quiet of Amman before heading in or out of Iraq.
The hotels also have become a gathering spot for the affluent Iraqis who have fled their country’s violence and congregated here.
Amman has changed somewhat in recent months because of the boom caused by money from affluent Iraqis, with high-priced prostitution also putting in an appearance.
Jordan, a key ally of the US, had largely escaped the terror attacks that have hit other parts of the Middle East, and its sleepy capital, Amman, is viewed as a haven of stability in the region.
But Jordan has not been entirely immune: on August 19, militants fired three Katyusha rockets at a navy ship docked at the Red Sea resort of Aqaba, narrowly missing it and killing a Jordanian soldier.
Jordanian officials blamed that attack on al-Qaeda in Iraq, and there have been growing worries that the violence in Iraq could spill over into Jordan, where many Iraqi exiles have taken refuge from the violence.
Jordan has arrested scores of Islamic militants for plotting to carry out attacks in the moderate Arab kingdom. It has also sentenced numerous militants to death in absentia, including al-Zarqawi. — Sapa-AP
Associated Press reporters Dale Gavlak and Shafika Mattar contributed to this report