Jordan Times
Friday, November 11, 2005
Authorities probe
attacks, net suspects
By Alia Shukri Hamzeh
AMMAN — Authorities arrested several suspects and
seized vehicles as investigations were under way into the triple explosions that
ripped through three Amman hotels and were claimed by Al Qaeda terrorist group
in Iraq.
No details were provided by the security apparatus as to the number of the
suspects detained thus far or their nationalities, in what security officials
said as necessary precautions to ensure a thorough investigation process.
“I can confirm that there have been several arrests as well as the seizure of
vehicles, but I cannot elaborate further. Information will be released after the
investigation is complete,” said Major Bashir Daaja, head of the Media
Department of the Public Security Department.
Security measures were also intensified throughout the Kingdom and at borders,
as the country observed a day of mourning for the victims who were killed during
Wednesday night's consecutive attacks.
Three suicide bombers had carried out the minutes-apart attacks at Radisson SAS,
the Grand Hyatt and Days Inn hotels. Two suicide bombers wearing explosive belts
managed to enter the hotels and blew themselves up. One in the lobby of the
Grand Hyatt and the second at Radisson SAS in the midst of a wedding ceremony.
The third suicide bomber attempted to push through a security barrier and ended
up detonating himself in the car. According to Deputy Prime Minister Marwan
Muasher, 59 people including the bombers died and 96 were injured. The dead
included 33 Jordanian men and women, Muasher said. Around 11 bodies were still
unidentified. Amongst the dead were 12 foreigners including one American, three
Chinese, one Indonesian, five Iraqis, a Saudi and a Palestinian.
Abu Mussab Zarqawi, a Jordanian believed to be the leader of Al Qaeda in Iraq
and one of the most wanted terrorists, claimed the coordinated attacks in an
Internet statement and warned of more to follow.
In the unauthenticated statement, Al Qaeda said the hotels were a “back garden
for the enemies of [our] religion.” Muasher told a press conference Thursday
afternoon that Al Qaeda and Zarqawi were prime suspects for the attacks. He said
the three bombers' remains had been found by investigators and forensic experts
but that their identities were still unknown. DNA tests will be carried out on
the remains to find out who the three bombers were.
According to a news report by the Doha-based Al Jazeera satellite channel, a
Grand Hyatt employee had seen the bomber. The young man who was talking from his
hospital bed said he saw a suspicious looking man nervously pacing back and
forth in the lobby and went and spoke with him. “I asked if he was looking for
someone and the man said he was meeting friends.” The young man identified as
Fadi Amin, said the bomber had an Iraqi accent. “The man sat down on one of the
chairs at the lobby and five minutes after I walked away, he blew himself up.”
The authorities could not corroborate the story and said investigation was still
ongoing.
Massive destruction
Police officers and forensic experts were still rummaging through the debris and
human remains throughout the second day of the bombings in search for evidence
of the attacks. The level of destruction inside Radisson SAS and the Grand
Hyatt, the two five-star hotels frequented by Westerners and diplomats, was
massive.
Blown up ceilings, shattered glasses and destroyed furniture were yet another
evidence of the powerful attacks.
Blood stained floors, remnants of clothes and personal belongings and charred
flesh splattered about were vivid evidence of the carnage. It was a shocking
scene to many who went in.
Upon entering the Grand Hyatt, which no longer has its glass doors and large
windows, the overwhelming smell of blood filled the air.
The usually busy reception area was barren.
It was still undetermined how many had died at the Grand Hyatt.
Inside Radisson SAS banquet hall where a wedding ceremony was getting under way,
the destruction was multiplied.
The roof was torn apart, broken glass and smashed tables and chairs were
everywhere.
The cutlery turned into sharp metals of death and the chandeliers were shattered
to a thousand pieces.
Yet through it all, the wedding cake and the flowers were ironically the sole
survivors of what was once a happy occasion.
Just three minutes before the bride and groom entered the Philadelphia hall —
where family members waited — the bomber walked to the middle of the room
underneath the chandelier and detonated himself, said Bassam Bana, a director at
Radisson SAS. “Why would anyone do that? It was a wedding! Who would want to
kill innocent people?” he told reporters at the site.
Dr Said Abu Hasna, who was staying at the hotel, said he was thrown from his bed
by the force of the explosion. His room was above the banquet hall. Abu Hasna,
who is in Amman to attend a medical conference, was the first doctor to start
helping the victims.
“I will never forget it. It was a disaster,” he said. Abu Hasna said he saw
people sprawled all over the hall drenched in blood. He started to check the
victims to identify who could be saved and treated and tried to resuscitate as
many as he could until ambulances showed up. The UAE doctor said he assisted a
20-year-old girl that was in shock and had a broken leg.
“It was so bad. There was smoke coming of the bodies of those I was trying to
help,” he added.
The destruction at the Days Inn was external, due to the fact that the bomber
blew himself outside the hotel.
Anger and shock
The scene outside the hotels was however different as people from across the
Kingdom poured into the city to express condemnation at the attacks.
Thousands of Jordanians took part in tens of demos that continued throughout the
day creating traffic jams and showing a nationwide anger over the killing of
innocent lives.
A nine-year-old boy who walked in front of the Grand Hyatt with his family and
friends said he was there to protest such a “despicable act.” The boy had come
all the way from Sahab to say “no to the crime.”
“Islam is peace” read one banner carried by the protesters as they chanted
“Jordan is ours and we do not want terrorism.”
Flags flew at half-mast across the Kingdom.
“These attacks have nothing to do with any culture or religion. This madness has
reached us and we want to make sure it doesn't happen again,” Muasher told
reporters.
“I want to reassure all Jordanians that this is an isolated incident and that
the government will do its utmost to ensure the safety of all,” he said.
Muasher said the time has come for all Jordanians to stand united and say no to
all those who have nothing to do with humanity.
The minister said Jordan reopened its borders and intensified security measures
all over the Kingdom. He said measures will be taken to ensure all hotels and
major buildings and offices will be protected.
On the investigation, Muasher said the Kingdom will not seek foreign assistance,
adding that “if the need arises we shall examine this possibility.”
“Jordan has been the target of terrorists but the fact that they managed to
carry out their attacks does not mean success for the terrorists,” Muasher said.
He noted that Al Qaeda was responsible for plotting several attacks against
Jordan that were foiled.
Authorities have in the past broken up a number of Al Qaeda-linked networks
suspected of plotting attacks against US and other Western targets.
The last militant strike in Jordan was a rocket attack targeting US warships in
the Port of Aqaba. The August attack was claimed by Iraq's Al Qaeda led by
Zarqawi. Zarqawi was released from a Jordanian jail in 1999 under a general
amnesty. He has a bounty on his head and was condemned to death in absentia in
April for the 2002 murder of a US diplomat in Amman.
“This culture of justifying killing innocent people for just or unjust causes is
unacceptable,” Muasher told a large number of local and foreign journalists.
“Any attempt to justify these killings of civilians is unacceptable on any
pretext,” he added.
“Our resolve is strong and life is going on,” Muasher said.