|
Angry Jordanians rally to protest bombings
(AP)
Updated: 2005-11-11 08:34
Thousands of Jordanians rallied in the capital and other cities shouting
"Burn in hell, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi!" a day after three deadly hotel bombings
that killed at least 59 people. Officials suspected Iraqi involvement in the
attacks, which were claimed by al-Qaida's Iraq branch.
As protesters in Jordan and elsewhere in the Arab world denounced the
Jordanian-born leader of al-Qaida in Iraq, security forces snared a group of
Iraqis for questioning and officials said one of the bombers spoke
Iraqi-accented Arabic before he exploded his suicide belt in the Grand Hyatt
Hotel.
The main demonstration in Amman lasted for more than an hour. But honking
vehicles, decorated with Jordanian flags and posters of King Abdullah II,
cruised Amman's streets until late in the night, as passengers chanted "Death to
al-Zarqawi, the villain and the traitor!" and anti-terrorism slogans.
Relatives and friends gather and pray at the
grave of Abdul-Khatib after they buried him at Sahab cemetery, in Sahab,
southeast of Amman, Jordan, Thursday Nov. 10, 2005, after he was killed in
one of the hotel explosions in the Jordanian capital,
Amman.[AP] | About 50 people, including Jordanian
children holding tiny flags, placed candles on a makeshift sand memorial in the
driveway of the Hyatt.
King Abdullah II, a strong U.S. ally, vowed in a nationally televised address
to "pursue those criminals and those behind them, and we will get to them
wherever they are."
Two Americans were killed and four wounded in the bombings Wednesday evening
at the Hyatt, the Radisson SAS and the Days Inn, State Department spokesman Noel
Clay said. Two of the wounded were hospitalized.
Jordanians attend a rally in support of
Jordan's King Abdullah outside the Grand Hyatt hotel in central Amman
November 10, 2005.[Reuters] | Significantly, the victims also included some two dozen Palestinians with
roots in the West Bank. Among them were the West Bank's intelligence chief, Maj.
Gen. Bashir Nafeh, a diplomat and a prominent banker. Many Jordanians and
Palestinians have supported the Iraqi insurgency, but the hotel bombings could
tip Arab sentiment against al-Zarqawi.
In the West Bank village of Silet al-Thaher, members of the Akhras family
mourned 13 of their relatives killed during a wedding party at the Radisson.
"Oh my God, oh my God. Is it possible that Arabs are killing Arabs, Muslims
killing Muslims? For what did they do that?" screamed 35-year-old Najah Akhras,
who lost two nieces in the attack. Similar thoughts were heard over and over
throughout the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
|
