Suicide attackers strike hotels in Jordan, killing 57

AMMAN, Jordan -- Suicide bombers carried out nearly simultaneous attacks on three U.S.-based hotels in the Jordanian capital Wednesday night, killing at least 57 people and wounding more than 300 in what appeared to be an al-Qaida assault on an Arab kingdom with close ties to the United States and a common border with Iraq.\nThe explosions hit the Grand Hyatt, Radisson SAS and Days Inn hotels just before 9 p.m. One of the blasts took place inside a wedding hall where 300 guests were celebrating. Black smoke rose into the night, and wounded victims stumbled from the hotels.\n"We thought it was fireworks for the wedding but I saw people falling to the ground," said Ahmed, a wedding guest at the five-star Radisson who did not give his surname. "I saw blood. There were people killed. It was ugly."\nA State Department official said there was no information on any American casualties. The White House said the United States was prepared to offer help in the investigation.\nA U.S. counterterrorism official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the strong suspicion is that Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the Jordanian-born leader of the terror group al-Qaida in Iraq, was involved because of his known animosity for Jordan and the fact that it was a suicide attack, one of his hallmarks.\nIn February, U.S. intelligence indicated Osama bin Laden was in contact with al-Zarqawi, enlisting him to conduct attacks outside of Iraq, noted another U.S. counterterrorism official, who also spoke on condition of anonymity. Jordan has arrested scores of Islamic militants for plotting to carry out attacks and has also sentenced many militants to death in absentia, including al-Zarqawi.\nIts capital, 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 the city.\n"Obviously this is something Jordan is not used to," Jordan's deputy prime minister, Marwan Muasher, told CNN. "We have been lucky so far in avoiding those incidents." He said most of the casualties appeared to be Jordanians.\n"Finally, the terrorists succeeded in breaking the security in Jordan," Ayman al-Safadi, editor of Jordan's Al-Ghad newspaper, told Al-Arabiya satellite network.\nThe first blast was reported at about 8:50 p.m. at the five-star Grand Hyatt. The explosion took place in the lobby, an American businessman said, and shattered its stone entrance.\nAn Associated Press reporter counted seven bodies being taken away and many more wounded being carried out on stretchers. Prime Minister Adnan Badran later arrived at the scene.\nA few minutes later and a short distance away, police reported the explosion at the wedding hall inside the Radisson, with at least five killed and at least 20 wounded.\nThe Radisson is popular with American and Israeli tourists and was a target of several foiled al-Qaida plots, including a conspiracy to attack U.S. and Israeli tourists during the kingdom's millennium celebrations. Israel's ambassador to Jordan, Yaakov Hadas, told Israel TV from Amman there were no reports of Israeli casualties.\nThe third explosion, at the Days Inn, happened after a car packed with explosives approached the hotel, Muasher said. He said the car could not cross a protective barrier so it detonated outside. As a result, the casualties at the Days Inn were not so extensive as at the other hotels, he said.\nMuasher reported 57 killed and at least 300 wounded in the three bombings, with the worst damage at the Radisson because the suicide bomber got inside the wedding party of Jordanians.\nIn addition to housing Westerners, Amman's hotels have also become a gathering spot for affluent Iraqis who have fled their country's violence. Their presence -- and money -- has caused an economic boom, with high-priced prostitution also putting in an appearance.