53 die as terrorists hit Jordan

Suicide bombers apparently targeted the luxury Radisson SAS and Grand Hyatt hotels, usually packed with foreigners, and the Days Inn hotel.

A bomb exploded at the entrance of the Grand Hyatt killing at least 10 people, security sources 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 Grand Hyatt and the Radisson SAS lie about 1km from each other and are located in an upmarket of the city, until now seen as one of the most stable and safest capitals in the Arab world.

Five people were killed at the Days Inn hotel, a three-star establishment in Rabiyeh neighborhood where the Israeli embassy is located.

"Three terrorist operations targeted the Radisson SAS, the Grand Hyatt and the Days Inn hotels," Major Bashir al-Daajeh told the Petra news agency. "They could be suicide operations," said.

Jordan's King Abdullah II said the deadly blasts were "terrorist " and pledged that "justice will pursue the criminals."

"The terrorist attacks that targeted three hotels in Amman are criminal acts carried out by terrorist groups," the king, who is visiting Kazakhstan, said in a statement released by the royal court.

"Jordan remains determined to pursue its fight against the criminals who wanted by their acts to target innocent civilians ... and will remain a safe country," the king said.

State television confirmed the three explosions while hospital sources said several more people were wounded and rushed to hospitals.

The fire brigade and ambulances rushed to the scene to ferry away the wounded. Television showed that parts of the hotels had been wrecked, with debris covering the luxury marble flooring.

The blasts struck within minutes of each other at around 9pm local time (6am Thursday AEDT) in the western part of the capital and could be heard for kilometres around.

Prime Minister Adnan Badran also rushed to the Grand Hyatt. He also ordered all schools and public offices to close on Thursday.

Police threw barricades around the neighbourhood, home to several five star hotels. They also surrounded embassies and hotels in the city. Amman has become the most popular staging post for international workers in their way to Iraq.

Jordan, one of the most stable countries in the Middle East, is one of only three Arab states to have diplomatic relations with Israel but also is the home country of Iraq's most wanted man Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.

The Jordanian authorities have in the past broken up a number of al-Qaeda linked networks suspected of plotting attacks against US and other Western targets in Jordan.

The last apparently militant strike in Jordan was rocket attack in August targeting US warships in the Red Sea port of Aqaba that the authorities blamed on the al-Qaeda group led by Zarqawi.

The rockets missed two US warships docked in the port but one hit a warehouse killing a Jordanian soldier while another landed across the border in the neighbouring Israeli resort of Eilat.