3 Chinese among 57 killed in Jordan hotel bombings
(AP/chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2005-11-10 08:54

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.

King Abdullah II cut short his official visit to Kazakhstan and was returning home.

"The hand of justice will get to the criminals who targeted innocent secure civilians with their cowardly acts," he said in a statement.

The White House said the United States was prepared to offer help in the investigation.

In a statement, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said "such wanton acts of murder against innocent people violate every faith and creed." She pledged to Jordan that the U.S. would "stand together, unwavering, to defeat the evil that threatens our people and way of life."

U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, who is on a trip in the Middle East, strongly condemned the bombings and canceled his scheduled trip to Jordan because of the attacks.

Security forces, including special anti-terror police units, fanned out across the Jordanian capital after the attack. Police swiftly set up road blocks across Amman, where they searched cars and checked passengers' identification.

Special anti-terrorism units in armored vehicles sealed off streets around diplomatic missions, government offices and hotels. Police said Amman was virtually cut off from other cities because all highways leading to the capital were shut.

At midnight, the capital appeared virtually deserted, except from tens of police cars and armored vehicles. Plainclothed security officials were also seen on foot, strolling near the blast sites and stopping motorists to inspect their IDs.

Prime Minister Adnan Badran declared Thursday a national holiday — apparently in order to allow tightened security measures to take hold.

The date of Wednesday's attack, Nov. 9, would be written as 9/11 in the Middle East, which puts the day before the month. A Jordanian government spokesman declined to speculate on what this means. But Jordanian citizens were sending mobile messages that read: "Have you noticed that today is 9-11, similar to America's 11-9?"

Al-Zarqawi has successfully and unsuccessfully launched attacks against Jordan dating back to the assassination of senior U.S. diplomat Laurence Foley outside his Amman home in October 2002. He is also blamed for a foiled attack on the Jordanian intelligence building and other targets in April 2004.

In a seven-minute audio recording later that month, al-Zarqawi said: "The war has its ups and downs, and as the days go by, we will have more fierce confrontations with the Jordanian government. The chapters of some of these confrontations have ended, but what is coming is more vicious and bitter."