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Jordanians declare war on Zarqawi, tell him to burn in hell
Hundreds of angry Jordanians rallied Thursday outside one of three U.S.-based hotels attacked by suicide bombers, shouting, “Burn in hell, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi!” — a reference to the leader of Al-Qaida in Iraq, the terrorist group tied to the blasts that killed at least 56 people.

The protest was organized by Jordan’s 14 professional and trade unions — made up of both hard-line Islamic groups and leftist political organizations — traditionally vocal critics of King Abdullah II’s moderate and pro-Western policies. Drivers honked the horns of vehicles decorated with Jordanian flags and posters of the king. A helicopter hovered overhead. “We sacrifice our lives for you, Amman!” the protesters chanted.

Other rallies were held across the kingdom, including the Red Sea port of Aqaba, where attackers using Katyusha rockets narrowly missed a U.S. ship and killed a Jordanian soldier in August. Others were in al-Zarqawi’s hometown of Zarqa and the southern city of Maan, which is a known hub for Muslim fundamentalists. Palestinian legislator Hanan Ashrawi said she did not believe al-Qaida “or any of these violent extremists have had support among mainstream Arab opinion at all. Now they are making sure they are turning everyone against them.”
That's our boy Zarq, winning friends and influencing people
A Jordanian security official who spoke on condition of anonymity said authorities had tips on suspects who are being hunted, including possible sleeper cells or individuals who may have assisted the attackers and later fled in a vehicle bearing Iraqi license plates. Police continued a broad security lockdown and authorities sent DNA samples for testing to identify the attackers. Land borders were reopened after being closed for nearly 12 hours.

A government spokesman lowered the death toll by one, citing confusion in the early hours after the blasts. He said the number was likely to rise slightly. He said the victims included 15 Jordanians, five Iraqis, one Saudi, one Palestinian, three Chinese, one Indonesian; 30 others hadn’t been identified. A U.S. Embassy official said at least one American was killed and at least two others were wounded. Schools, businesses and government offices closed as the stunned kingdom prepared to bury the dead.

Earlier Thursday, a posting on a militant Islamic Web site attributed the bombings to Al-Qaida in Iraq, saying that Jordan became a target because it was “a backyard garden for the enemies of the religion, Jews and crusaders ... a filthy place for the traitors ... and a center for prostitution.”The authenticity of the posting could not be independently verified, but it appeared on an Islamic Web site that acts as a clearing house for statements by militant groups. A separate posting said Al-Qaida in Iraq was also behind a Baghdad bombing Thursday that killed at least 33 people.

The nearly simultaneous attacks late Wednesday also wounded more than 115 people, police said. Police detained several people overnight, although it was unclear if they were of suspects or witnesses.

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 its meaning. But Jordanians were sending text messages that read: “Have you noticed that today is 9-11, similar to America’s 11-9?”

Iraqi government spokesman Laith Kubba said the attack should alert Jordan that it needed to stop playing host to former members of Saddam Hussein’s regime. “I hope that these attacks will wake up the ‘Jordanian street’ to end their sympathy with Saddam’s remnants ... who exploit the freedom in this country to have a safe shelter to plot their criminal acts against Iraqis,” he said. He also said Iraqis may have had a hand in the attacks. “The al-Qaida organization has become as a plague that affected Iraq and is now transmitted by the same rats to other countries. A lot of Iraqis, especially former intelligence and army officers, joined this criminal cell,” Kubba said. Jordan’s Deputy Prime Minister Marwan Muasher said shortly after the blasts that al-Zarqawi was a “prime suspect.”

The Jordanian-born al-Zarqawi is known for his animosity to the country’s Hashemite monarchy. The claim of responsibility did not name King Abdullah II but twice referred to the “tyrant of Jordan.”

In the attacks, the suicide bombers detonated explosives at the Grand Hyatt, Radisson SAS and Days Inn hotels just before 9 p.m. The Radisson bombing took place inside a hall where 300 guests were celebrating a wedding of two Palestinians. A smaller wedding was going on at the Hyatt. Initial reports said a car filled with explosives was also found in the parking garage at the Le Meridian hotel, but officials on Thursday said that had not been the case.

The suicide bomber at the Grand Hyatt was possibly Iraqi, a Jordanian security official said on condition of anonymity. He said the middle-aged man, who had explosives under his suit, was stopped by suspicious security officials in the lobby. Speaking in an Iraqi accent, the man said he was “looking around,” and then blew himself up, the official added, saying hotel cameras had some shots of him.

Until late Wednesday, Amman — a comfortable, hilly city of white stone villas and glitzy high-rises — had mostly avoided large-scale attacks and was a welcome sanctuary of stability in a troubled region. Al-Zarqawi was jailed in Jordan for 15 years in 1996, but was freed three years later under an amnesty by King Abdullah, the current king’s father. The Jordanian security source said DNA tests were being carried out to determine the identity of the perpetrators, including two suicide bombers who blew themselves up in two of the separate hotel attacks. A third suicide attacker used a car to attack.

The dead included two senior Palestinian security officials. Maj. Gen. Bashir Nafeh and Col. Abed Allun were killed in the attack at the Hyatt, the Palestinian envoy to Amman, Ambassador Attala Kheri, told The AP. Israel’s Foreign Ministry confirmed that an Israeli was killed in the bombings, but had no other details. The Army Radio said that the man was living at one of the hotels, but declined to say which.

The state Jordan Television showed Abdullah inspecting the sites of the blasts after returning home early Thursday, cutting short an official visit to Kazakhstan. He later presided over a meeting of his security chiefs, including police and intelligence. Jordan is one of two Arab countries that have signed peace treaties with Israel. It helped the United States in the war on Iraq. The hotels, frequented by Israelis and Americans among other foreign guests, have long been on al-Qaida’s hit list.

Iraq’s interior minister said last month that documents found with a slain al-Zarqawi aide revealed a plan to send some foreign militants home to widen the battlefield beyond Iraq. “So you will see insurgencies in other countries,” Bayan Jabor told Reuters, adding that hundreds of Islamist fighters had left Iraq in recent months.
Posted by: Uluns Thromosing2130 2005-11-10
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=134669