Al-Qaeda in Iraq claimed Friday that four Iraqis, including a husband and wife, carried out the suicide bombings against three Amman hotels, and local police detained some 120 Jordanians and Iraqis in connectionn to the attacks.
The Internet statement by al-Qaeda in Iraq said all the bombers "are Iraqis from the land between the two rivers." "They vowed to die and they chose the shortest route to receive the blessings of God," it said.
The statement, signed by group spokesman Abu Maysara al-Iraqi, said the four included a woman "who chose to accompany her husband to his martyrdom."
It also threatened Israel. The statement noted that Jordan, which it described as Israel's "buffer zone," was now "within range" and "it will not be long before raids by the mujahedeen come" to the Jewish state itself.
It said the attackers selected the hotels after a month of surveillance and wore explosive belts "in order to achieve greater accuracy in hitting the target."
The attack was carried out in response to "the conspiracy against the Sunnis whose blood and honor were shed by the Crusaders and the Shiites" and with the connivance of the Arab League, which is trying to arrange an Iraqi reconciliation conference, the statement said.
It also referred to "revenge for the Sunnis in Qaem," a city along the Iraqi-Syrian border where U.S. and Iraqi forces are conducting an offensive against al-Qaeda members.
The statement identified the attackers by pseudonyms Abu Khabib, Abu Maath, Abu Omeir and the wife of Abu Omeir. The husband and wife attacked the Days Inn, the statement said.
"Those who executed the plan were able to enter the sites after passing through all the security measures of which the descendants of the traitor's dynasty were boasting," the statement said.
It identified Abu Khabib as the leader, saying he struck in the bar of the Radisson. "He was followed by Abu Maath who chose the Hyatt Amman," it said.
