2008 Woodie Awards
Bombs explode in theree hotels in Amman, Jordan
Nadia Beidas
Issue date: 11/14/05 Section: News
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"Three Iraqi suicide bombers detonated explosive belts at three Amman hotels, killing 59 others. Syrian-American filmmaker Mustapha Akkad, 75, and his daughter Rima, 34, were among the victims. The other American killed has not been identified," according to the Associated Press. A fourth American died after receiving wounds in the attacks.
More than 100 people have been wounded.
The Associated Press also said, "Al-Qaida in Iraq, the terror group led by Jordanian-born militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, claimed responsibility for the attacks."
Al Jazeera reported, "among the dead are five Iraqis, Arabs from several other countries, one Indonesian and three Chinese." The report also stated most of the victims were Jordanian. (*note: there are many Jordanian citizens of Palestinian descent who were killed in this attack).
A wedding party came to a tragic end was being held in one of the hotels. The bride and groom were entering the wedding hall when the bombs exploded, the groom said. The day of celebration had turned into a nightmarish ordeal.
According to Reuters, during the time of the attacks Ashraf al-Akhras had been celebrating his wedding to his bride Nadia Alami with his friends and family.
"This is not Islam. Muslims don't kill each other or any other person, what can I say? This is a crime, not a fight against oppression in the world. It's a crime," said Akhras.
Akhras told the Associated Press, "there was a flash of light inside and a cloud of white smoke and then the sound of an explosion. It was very huge." He added, "the ceiling fell down on the people who were inside. My father and her father ... died instantly."
According to an Associated Press report, "Besides their fathers, al-Akhras lost 16 members of his family, while Alami lost 11 rel
atives. Neither the groom nor the bride was wounded."
Both the bride and groom are of Palestinian origin. King Abdullah II, the king of Jordan, declared that the instigators of the attacks will face the consequences of their crimes. He said in a CNN report, "there is tremendous outrage by the Jordanian public that these people have targeted just innocent people."
