Explosions rock hotels in Jordan

Thursday, November 10, 2005; Posted: 10:54 a.m. EST (15:54 GMT)

A series of blasts sent ambulances screaming across Jordan's capital.

• Al Qaeda claims rocket attack

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AMMAN, Jordan (AP) -- Explosions rocked three hotels in the Jordanian capital late Wednesday, killing at least 18 people, injuring more than 120 and sending ambulances screaming across downtown.

Jordanian police Maj. Bashir al-Da'aja said officials believe all the Amman hotel blasts were carried out by suicide bombers.

"The attacks carry the trademark of al Qaeda," a police source said on condition of anonymity in line with police regulations. "However it is not certain. We are investigating."

The explosions struck the Grand Hyatt, Radisson SAS and Days Inn hotels. A police officer at the Radisson site said it was caused "apparently by a bomb."

The hotels, in the commercial Jebel Amman district, 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.

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.

"It was a miracle that we made it out with a scratch," said a British guest at the Grand Hyatt.

The blast ripped through the Radisson during a wedding party with at least 300 guests. At least five people were killed and 20 wounded in that explosion.

"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."

Dana Burde, from New York, was in the lobby of the Radisson at the time of that explosion. "We were sort of blown out of the room, but the wall sort of caved in," Burde told CNN. "There was a lot of debris, certainly people were killed."

Ayman al-Safadi, editor of Jordan's Al-Ghad newspaper, told 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 a number of terror plots.

Jordan, a key ally of the United States, 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 neighboring Iraq could spill over into Jordan, where many Iraqi exiles have taken refuge from the violence.