Outrage Grows In Jordan

It's not a sight you see every day: a mass demonstration in an Arab country against terrorism.

For the second day running, thousands of Jordanians took to the streets to condemn the al
Qaeda attacks on their country, reports CBS News correspondent David Hawkins.

From the capital, Amman, to the northeastern industrial town of Zarqa, the birthplace of al Qaeda in Iraq leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, thousands of Jordanians vented their fury over Wednesday's bombings and called for al-Zarqawi's death.

Meanwhile, al Qaeda claimed a squad of four Iraqi suicide bombers — including a husband and wife — struck three Amman hotels where at least 57 people, excluding the bombers, were killed, while Jordan interrogated 12 suspects Friday believed to have links to this kingdom's deadliest ever attacks

If the Jordanian children protesting Friday ever supported al Qaeda, Hawkins reports they don't anymore, as they were shouting "Long live the king!" and "Down with Abu Musab al-Zarqawi!"

"If they want to fight any occupation let them fight it in the countries it occupied, but never to target civilians," said Abdul-Jabber Saeed, a university teacher of religious law in Zarqa, northeastern Jordan. "We can never justify killings in hotels."

"Al-Zarqawi is rejected by everybody in Zarqa, even by his family members," said Mohammed al-Sharaa, a neighbor of the terror leader's clan in Zarqa.

Randa Yacoub, a Jordanian-American who lives in Chicago, says she'll never forget the wicked smile on the terrorist's face as he detonated his bomb.

"We never even imagined that this thing would happen in Jordan," Yacoub told Hawkins.

Al Qaeda in Iraq issued its third Internet claim since the attacks, saying four Iraqis — including what is believed to be the world's first married couple to ever carry out a suicide attack — had the Radisson SAS, Grand Hyatt and Days Inn hotels under surveillance for a month before detonating explosive belts "to achieve greater accuracy in hitting the target."

Police have detained more than 120 people, including many Iraqis and Jordanians, in the massive manhunt for anyone who may have helped the bombers, who strolled up to the three hotels and detonated their explosive belts almost simultaneously.

Among those in custody are 12 people, including Jordanians, regarded by investigators as "suspects" in the attacks, Deputy Prime Minister Marwan Muasher told reporters.

Police are also searching for eight vehicles — including a GMV Suburban four-wheel drive and a Mercedes Benz sedan both with Iraqi license plates — spotted by witnesses near the three hotels around the time of the attacks. The six other vehicles carry Jordanian plates.

The death toll rose to 57 — including three U.S. citizens — following Friday's death of Syrian-American filmmaker Mustapha Akkad. Akkad, 75, of Los Angeles, suffered serious injuries and a heart attack in the Hyatt bombing, which instantly killed his 34-year-old daughter, Rima Akkad Monla, an American living in Beirut.

Akkad is best known for directing "Lion of the Desert" with Anthony Quinn and producer of the "Halloween" horror series, Hawkins reports, but is known in the Muslim world for "The Message," considered one of the best films made about Islam.

Security was beefed up at hotels and other public places in Amman, the Red Sea resort city of Aqaba and elsewhere across the country, Jordan's prime minister, Adnan Badran, said. He also pledged the government would pay all expenses for the wounded, who numbered about 100.

Authorities have not yet said with certainty that Iraqis were involved, but speculation has been high that al-Zarqawi wants to spread his group's influence outside Iraq.

Police have said only that three suicide bombers — including one with an Iraqi accent — were behind the attacks, while scores are among those who have been detained for questioning.

Pain and anger overflowed at several funerals held Friday, including one southeast of Amman where Ashraf Akhras, whose wedding at the Radisson was targeted by one of the bombers, wept as his father's body and those of at least four slain relatives were lowered into the ground.

"There is tremendous outrage by the Jordanian public that these people have targeted just innocent people," King Abdullah II told CNN. "And I can tell you that we Jordanians, we get mad and we get even and these people will be brought to justice."

Thousands more Jordanians staged angry protests in Amman and other centers following weekly mosque sermons, which all performed special prayers for the victims.

"Al-Zarqawi, you are a coward! Amman will remain safe!" chanted 3,000 protesters marching past the capital's al-Husseini Mosque.

U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan met briefly with King Abdullah, condemned the attacks and called for broader regional cooperation to battle terrorists.

Annan also visited the Radisson and Grand Hyatt hotels, where reconstruction work was already underway and workers busily restoring what has been damaged.

"These are very dark days," said Otto Steenbeek, general manager of the Grand Hyatt, who lost seven of his employees when the Iraqi-accented bomber struck the hotel's lobby.

Al Qaeda in Iraq's latest Internet claim said all the bombers "are Iraqis from the land between the two rivers," alluding to Iraq's ancient name, Mesopotamia.

It was not possible to authenticate the claim, but it appeared on a site that has included past al Qaeda statements, including Thursday's claim of responsibility.

The statement, signed by group spokesman Abu Maysara al-Iraqi, said four bombers carried out the attacks, including a woman "who chose to accompany her husband to his martyrdom."

It also threatened Israel, Jordan's western neighbor. Noting that Jordan, which it described as Israel's "buffer zone," was now "within range," al Qaeda said "it will not be long before raids by the mujahedeen come" to Israel itself.

It also referred to "revenge for the Sunnis in Qaim," a city along the Iraqi-Syrian border where U.S. and Iraqi forces are conducting an offensive against al Qaeda-led forces.

The statement identified the attackers by pseudonyms Abu Khabib, Abu Maath, Abu Omeir and the wife of Abu Omeir.

Abu Khabib, identified as the leader, struck in the bar of the Radisson, while Abu Maath bombed the Hyatt, the statement claimed.

Jordanian officials have found the remains of three males believed to be the attackers but could not confirm a woman was involved. Police are scouring footage from hotel security cameras that may have captured the attacks.

Forensic experts are also analyzing the severed head of a woman discovered at one of the hotels to learn if it was the purported female suicide bomber or someone else, said Dr. Mo'men Hariri, who runs a team of specialists identifying the remains of blast victims.

Suspicion about the bombers increasingly fell on insurgents fighting U.S. and Iraqi forces across Jordan's eastern border. Al-Zarqawi — sentenced to death in absentia here for terror crimes is believed to have trained more than 100 Iraqi militants to carry out suicide bombings in Iraq and possibly elsewhere in the Middle East.

Iraq's government spokesman said militants from his country may be spreading like a "plague" from Iraq to other countries like Jordan, which he accused of previously aiding insurgents battling U.S.-led coalition forces in Iraq.

"I hope that these attacks will wake up the `Jordanian street' to end their sympathy with Saddam's remnants," Iraqi government spokesman Laith Kubba said.

Stung by Arab condemnations, al Qaeda issued its second Internet statement "to explain for Muslims" why they targeted hotels packed with other Muslims and Western visitors. More than half of those killed were Jordanians. Six Iraqis, two Bahrainis and one Saudi Arabian also died.

Al Qaeda claimed the hotels were "favorite places for the work of the intelligence organs, especially those of the Americans, the Israelis and some western European countries."

It also cited moral justifications, saying the hotels were used by "filthy Israeli and Western tourists to spread corruption and adultery at the expense and suffering of the Muslims."

The statement promised "catastrophic" assaults in the future, warning Wednesday's attacks would pale by comparison.

Jordan has long had a strong track record of dealing with homegrown militants, but keeping tabs on Iraqi insurgents may prove to be a harder task. Some 400,000 Iraqis live in Jordan and many cross backward and forward between both countries routinely for family and business reasons.