Triple Terror At Jordan Hotels

Dozens Dead In Three Bombings; Al Qaeda Claims Responsibility

(CBS/AP) 
At the wedding hall inside the Radisson, at least five people were killed and at least 20 others were injured.

The Radisson is popular with American and Israeli tourists and was a target of several foiled al Qaeda plots, including a conspiracy to attack U.S. and Israeli tourists during the kingdom's millennium celebrations. Israel's ambassador to Jordan, Yaakov Hadas, told Israel TV from Amman there were no reports of Israeli casualties.

The third explosion, at the Days Inn, happened after a car packed with explosives approached the hotel, according to deputy prime minister Marwan Muasher. He said the car could not cross a protective barrier so it detonated outside. As a result, the casualties at the Days Inn were not as extensive as at the other hotels.

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, but it's not enough, says Livingstone, CEO of the security firm Global Options.

"I go into that region. And I will tell you there are many hotels in the Middle East, in the Gulf area and so on, that have almost no security whatsoever," he told Early Show co-anchor Julie Chen. "They need better security and they need to really crack down on Islamic dissidents inside these countries, because they've tolerated them in the past and this is what happens."

King Abdullah II cut short his official visit to Kazakhstan in order to return home.

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

Abdullah is going to crack down," said Livingstone. "They have a strong security apparatus in Jordan already."

"They can learn from the Saudi example," Livingstone said. "Eighteen months ago the Saudis were on the hot seat. That was going to be the second front. Now the Saudis cracked down very, very strongly against the cells that were in Saudi Arabia at the time. And it's been very quiet there ever since. I think that's what Abdullah is going to do in Jordan."

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.

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Editor's Note: In a previous version of this story, Laurence Foley was incorrectly identified in as a 'CIA station chief.' He was executive director of US Aid in Amman - but was accused in Al Qaeda propaganda of working for the CIA.