Thursday Nov 10 2005

By ninemsn staff and wires

Suicide bombers have killed at least 67 people and wounded more than 300 in attacks on three luxury hotels in the Jordanian capital, Amman.

Two of the bombings appear to have been caused by bombers with suicide belts, while a third blast was caused by a suicide car bomb, Jordan's Deputy Prime Minister Marwan Moasher said.

The blasts rocked the Radisson SAS, the Grand Hyatt and the Days Inn Hotel in close succession at about 6.02am (AEDT), killing at least 67 people, Deputy Prime Minister Moasher told CNN.

The Australian Embassy in Amman had confirmed the safety of one Australian known to have been staying at the Radisson, a spokeswoman for the Department for Foreign Affairs and Trade told ninemsn.

But DFAT could not confirm if the Australian was at the Radisson at the time of the explosion.

"Consular officials have visited two hospitals in Amman and have been in contact with four other hospitals. At this stage it appears there are no injured Australians," the spokeswoman said.

There are 647 Australians registered as living in Jordan, a land-locked state amid a hornet's nest of tension bordered by Iraq, Syria, Saudi Arabia and Israel.

Moasher said the attacks were carried out either by individuals wearing explosives on their belts, and "in one instance by a car that attempted to cross through the security barrier".

A suicide bomber who blew himself up in a hotel ballroom during a wedding reception at the Radisson caused the largest number of casualties, Moasher said.

"It looks so far as if most of (the victims) are Jordanians," he said.

"Most of the casualties occurred at that wedding party and most, if not all, were Jordanian."

Another suicide bomber targeted the Grand Hyatt, killing at least 10 people, while a car bomber attempted to cross a security barrier outside the Days Inn, not far from the Israeli embassy.

Palestinian intelligence services chief Bashir Nafeh was one of those killed in the attack at the Hyatt, Palestinian diplomat Atallah Khairy said.

Eight others were killed when a bomb hidden behind a plant exploded in the Philadelphia ballroom of the Radisson SAS where a wedding reception was underway, the sources said.

The Grand Hyatt and the Radisson SAS are about one kilometre from each other and are located in an upmarket of the city, until now seen as one of the most stable capitals in the Arab world. Both are popular with foreigners.

There was no word on casualties at the Days Inn Hotel, a three-star establishment in Rabiyeh neighbourhood where the Israeli embassy is located.

Major Bashir al-Daajeh earlier told the Petra news agency three terrorist operations targeted the Radisson SAS, the Grand Hyatt and the Days Inn hotels.

The fire brigade and ambulances rushed to the scene to ferry away the wounded.

Police threw barricades around the neighbourhood, which is home to several five-star hotels. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the blasts.

Moasher said the Jordan closed its land borders indefinitely in reaction to the attacks.

"All our land borders have been closed for an indefinite period of time but airspace has not been closed although security has been reinforced at the airports.

Earlier today, the US embassy in Beijing said police had warned that Islamic extremists could be planning attacks on luxury hotels in China next week.