http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/643691.html
<<< Scores dead in three Amman hotel bombings; Israelis evacuated before attack >>> <<< By Yoav Stern and Zohar Blumenkrantz >>> < Bombs rocked three hotels in Amman late last night, killing at least 57 < people and wounding more than 115 in apparent suicide attacks. One of < the hotels is known to be popular with Israeli tourists. < "There were three terrorist attacks on the Grand Hyatt, Radisson SAS and < Days Inn hotels, and it is believed that the blasts were suicide bombings," < police spokesman Major Bashir al-Da'aja told The Associated Press. He < declined to elaborate. < Advertisement < There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attacks. < A police official said the attacks were simultaneous and hit minutes before < 9 P.M. in two districts in the Jordanian capital, including the commercial < area of Jebel Amman and Al-Rabiyeh, which houses the Israeli Embassy. < A number of Israelis staying yesterday at the Radisson SAS were evacuated < before the bombing by Jordanian security forces, apparently due to a specific < security alert. They were escorted back to Israel by security personnel. < The Foreign Ministry stated yesterday that no Israeli tourists are known < to have been injured in the blasts. Representatives of Israel's embassy in < Amman were in contact with local authorities to examine any report of < injured Israelis, but none were received. There are often a number of < Israeli businessman and tourists in Amman, including in the hotels hit < yesterday. < Israel's counter-terror headquarters yesterday recommended Israeli < citizens not travel in Jordan. Travel recommendations regarding Jordan < were tightened a few months ago, but many Israelis still visit the country. < Many also visit other regions such as the Jordanian Arava and the ancient < city of Petra. < The first bomber, at 8:50 P.M. local time, struck the Grand Hyatt, completely < shattering the stone entrance. An AP reporter saw at least seven bodies < removed from the hotel and many more wounded carried out on stretchers. < CNN reported an eyewitness saying the Jordanian prime minister's car was < at the Grand Hyatt at the time of the blast. < Police said a second explosion hit the nearby Radisson SAS hotel, where < about 250 people were attending a wedding reception. At least five were killed < and at least 20 wounded in that blast, believed to have been caused by a bomb < placed in a false ceiling, police sources at the scene told Reuters. < The Radisson, in particular, is popular with Israeli tourists and was a target < of several foiled Al-Qaida plots in the past. < Police also reported a third explosion at the Days Inn Hotel in Amman. There < were also casualties at that hotel. < "The attacks carry the trademark of Al-Qaida," one police official said on < condition of anonymity in line with police regulations. "However, it is not < certain. We are investigating." < Ayman al-Safadi, editor of Jordan's Al-Ghad newspaper, told the Al-Arabiya < satellite network that it was a "terrorist operation." < "Finally, the terrorists succeeded in breaking the security in Jordan," he said, < referring to past success in foiling many terror plots. < Jordan's King Abdullah II condemned the attack, saying, "Justice will pursue < the criminals" behind the Amman suicide attacks, CNN reported. Abdullah, < who was on an official visit to Kazakhstan, cut short his trip and was < returning home last night. < The Grand Hyatt and Radisson SAS hotels, in the commercial Jebel Amman < district, are located about one kilometer apart and are frequented by < American and European businessmen and diplomats. The Days Inn is located < three kilometers away. < An American businessman who was at the Grand Hyatt when the explosion < occurred said a "bomb that went off in the lobby." He declined to identify < himself. < "It was a miracle that we made it out with a scratch," said a British guest at < the Grand Hyatt. < "We thought it was fireworks for the wedding but I saw people falling to the < ground," said Ahmed, a wedding guest at the Radisson who did not give his < surname. "I saw blood. There were people killed. It was ugly." < Jordan, a key ally of both the United States and Israel, 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 Aug. 19, militants fired three < Katyusha rockets at a U.S. 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-Qaida 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. >> ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> You can search right from your browser? It's easy and it's free. 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