Angry Jordanians rally to protest bombings
(AP)
Updated: 2005-11-11 08:34

One of the nearly simultaneous blasts tore through a banquet hall at the Radisson, where 300 guests were celebrating the wedding of the Jordanian-Palestinian couple.

"While I was shooting the pictures, all of sudden I saw a huge explosion, like the explosions we see on television, and people started screaming and pushing their way out of the hall," said wedding cameraman Osaka Rushed al-Saleh, 27. He spoke from his hospital bed, where he was recovering from facial and shoulder injuries.

President Bush said the attackers defiled Islam and the United States would help bring those responsible to justice.

"The killings should remind all of us that there is an enemy in this world that is willing to kill innocent people, willing to bomb a wedding celebration in order to advance their cause," Bush said during a meeting with Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh.

A senior Jordanian security official linked the bombings to Iraq, Jordan's war-ravaged eastern neighbor, saying the Hyatt bomber spoke with an Iraqi accent and that authorities have detained several other Iraqis.

Jordanians attend a rally in support of Jordan's King Abdullah outside the Grand Hyatt hotel in central Amman November 10, 2005.[Reuters]

"Indications and initial reports point to Iraqi involvement but we cannot be certain," the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was unauthorized to speak to the media.

Security staff patrolling the Hyatt stopped the middle-aged terrorist as he was wandering the lobby. He spoke briefly to the guards before detonating the explosives strapped underneath his Western-style suit, the official said.

The official said authorities made a number of arrests, including Jordanians, Iraqis and other Arabs.

Al-Zarqawi is believed to have trained at least 100 Iraqi suicide bombers as a special martyrdom corps to continue his group's war inside Iraq and possibly elsewhere in the Middle East.

While Jordanian security authorities have extensive networks tracking local militants, keeping tabs on Iraqis is believed to be much harder, particularly because nearly 1 million Iraqis have taken refuge in the country.

Officials from around the world sent condolences to Jordan and its ruler, Abdullah, who said his nation was targeted because it was committed to "fighting the terrorists who are killing innocents in the name of Islam."

Within hours of the attacks on the loosely guarded hotels, where there were no metal detectors at the entrances, security was intensified throughout the capital. Armed police patrolled outside hotels, set up checkpoints and randomly stopped vehicles to check them. For more than 12 hours, Jordanian authorities locked down their country's borders to prevent culprits possibly slipping out.

"We will bring them out from their holes and bring them to justice," Abdullah said.