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3 Chinese among 57 killed in Jordan hotel bombings
(AP/chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2005-11-10 08:54 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 115 in what appeared to
be an al-Qaida assault on an Arab kingdom with close ties to the United States.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry confirmed that three members of a Chinese
military delegation, now visiting Jordan, were killed in one of the hotel
bombings, and one more was injured. Th ministry said on its website that the
delegation was from the China National Defense University.
The ministry
advised Chinese nationals avoiding to make trips to Jordan due to the
current situation, and urged Chinese nationals now in Jordan to avoid stays at
public places and keep in touch with the Chinese embassy there.
Chinese President Hu Jintao, now on a state visit to Britain, strongly
condemned Wednesday's suicide bombings in Amman, Jordan's capital, and expressed
condolences to Jordan king.
In his telegraph to Jordan King Abdullah, Hu
strongly condemned the terror attacks, and expressed China's firm stance against
terrorism in any form, and China's willingness to work together with Jordan and
internationalcommunity to fight against terrorism.
But a local radio
report said at least five Chinese were killed in the blasts.
Bodies of victims
lay on ground outside the Days Inn hotel in central Amman November 9,
2005. At least 57 people were killed and scores wounded on Wednesday when
three suspected suicide bombers blew themselves up in three hotels in
Amman, a security source said. [Reuters] | The
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 — joined by a man strapped with explosives who had infiltrated the
crowd. Black smoke rose into the night, and wounded victims stumbled from the
hotels.
"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."
Jordan's deputy prime minister, Marwan Muasher, said there was no claim of
responsibility but that Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the Jordanian-born leader of
al-Qaida in Iraq, was a "prime suspect."
A U.S. counterterrorism official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because
the investigation is ongoing, said the strong suspicion is that al-Zarqawi was
involved because of his known animosity for Jordanian monarchy and the fact that
it was a suicide attack, one of his hallmarks.
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