Thursday, August 7, as part of an investigation into who was responsible for one of the most serious attacks against a Jordanian target in recent times.
Hours earlier up to 12 people died and dozens were wounded in a bomb explosion that rocked the compound and was felt across the residential area.
Some Jordanian diplomats already linked Thursday’s car bomb explosion to Islamic groups which apparently threatened the small kingdom with violence because of its support for Washington’ policy towards Iraq.
They see American troops as occupiers, a sentiment reflected by demonstrators who gathered in front of the Jordanian Embassy moments before the bomb went off.
Jordan is also believed to be high on the hit list of Al Qaida, the terrorist network that claimed responsibility for the September 11 attacks against the United States. In addition there has been anger over Jordan’s decision to grant exile to Saddam Hussein’s eldest daughters.
Whatever the motif behind the attack, people in the Jordanian port city of Aqaba, which recently hosted peace talks between the Israeli and Palestinian Prime Ministers, told BosNEwsLife they were outraged about the attack. The violence was also expected to increase concern about Jordan’s already embattled tourism industry, which has tried to attract Christians to religious and Biblical sites..
32-year old hotel worker Abdul Aziz said he did not understand why his country was targeted as in his words “King Abdullah paid for medical treatment of wounded Iraqi children,” during the war.
In addition Iraqis have been able to enjoy economic support. They are allowed to buy and import duty free cars from Aqaba which is now one of the most important trading zones in the region.
Egyptian ship engineer Rede Farake, 52, wondered why Arabs would attack another Arab nation.
"These are signs of desperation. Iraqis don’t have anything. They are now able to look at their television sets to the good life that for instance the Americans have, and they realize that they don’t have anything, and that Americans misuse them."
But he and others also suggested that the bomb blast could have been fuelled by anger from Iraqis about alleged mistreatment by U.S. soldiers and Jordanian border guards.
Farake said Iraqis are now free to watch on television rich Americans, while they live in poverty.
However 42-year old salesman Majed was not surprised about the violence. He said Iraq has not been stable for thousands of years, and that Thursday’s blast was not its last explosion.
