World outrage at Amman blasts

Governments worldwide and the UN Security Council have strongly condemned the explosions in Amman, describing them as barbaric and called for greater efforts against terrorism.

The blasts hit three luxury hotels in Amman

“The Security Council condemns in the strongest terms the terrorist bombings that took place in Amman,” said a UN statement read by Russia‘s UN envoy Andrei Denisov, the current council president on Thursday.

 

The Council also stressed the need “to bring the perpetrators, organisers, financiers and sponsors of these intolerable acts to justice” and called on all states to help Jordanian authorities accordingly.

The explosions across three hotels in Jordan’s capital Amman on Wednesday killed 56 people and injured more than 200.

The White House condemned the strikes as “a heinous act of terror” against innocent civilians.

US President George Bush offered help in “bringing the terrorists to justice”, while Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said the attacks were a “great tragedy”.

“Jordan has of course been a tremendous fighter and a tremendous ally in the war on terrorism,” she said. “Our hearts go out to those who’ve been lost, and the people of Jordan.”

Arab condemnation 

Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas denounced the blasts as a “crime against humanity and Arab security”.

Arab states in the Gulf condemned the attacks and called for rallying world efforts to end such “terrorist acts”.  

The United Arab Emirates “stands by (Jordan)… and offers its solidarity and all its capabilities, and asserts that these cowardly crimes will only increase Jordan’s steadfast stand in the face of terrorism,” said President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed al-Nahyan. 

“Syria vigorously condemns these attacks and expresses its total solidarity with Jordan”

Syrian foreign affairs official

The Iraqi government condemned the bombings and a senior Iraqi political leader said the bombings showed that terrorism was a regional problem that required a concerted response.

“They (the attacks) prove that the terrorism which rages in Iraq has also become a real threat to other countries, including those which have closed their eyes on what is going on in our country,” said Jawad al-Maliki, deputy leader of Prime Minister Ibrahim Jaafari’s Dawa party.

King Mohammed VI of Morocco voiced the kingdom’s solidarity with the Jordanian people and strongly condemned what he described as “barbaric acts” that are “forbidden by our Islamic religion and rejected by all revealed religions and universal values that advocate peace, fraternity and tolerance,” reported the state-run MAP news agency.
  
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak sent a telegram to King Abdullah “stressing that Egypt is standing by Jordan… in these difficult times and in the face of terrorism and its perils”, the official MENA news agency said in a statement.
  
Lebanese President Emile Lahoud said the Lebanese people “supports the Jordanian people in their ordeal and ask God to give you the strength to face the challenges with which Jordan is confronted.”

Syria also condemned the attacks and reminded Jordan of its solidarity.

“We have painfully learned the news that attacks aimed at hotels lead to the deaths of innocent people,” a Syrian foreign affairs official was quoted as saying by the official SANA news agency.

“Syria vigorously condemns these attacks and expresses its total solidarity with Jordan.” 

Other reactions 
  
European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana said “the devastation that terrorist madness had provoked… among innocent people is unjustifiable”.        

undefined

The blasts killed 56 people and
injured more than 200 others

Russian President Vladimir Putin called on governments to fight without compromise against terrorism which “has no nationality and belongs to no religious faith”.
  
Pakistan, a key US ally which has also suffered of al-Qaida-linked attacks, strongly condemned the “heinous act of terrorism in Amman”. 
  
Chinese President Hu Jintao, visiting Britain, sent a message to King Abdullah strongly condemning the attacks.

France and Ireland expressed shock and sympathy.

“While the facts are not yet clear, I am appalled by these reports. It seems all too likely that this was a terrorist attack aimed at killing and maiming entirely innocent people,” said Irish Foreign Minister Dermot Ahern.

French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin offered his “deep sympathy… to the families and all the Jordanian people”, and said France condemned the attacks.

Wednesday’s late evening attacks on one of the closest US allies in the Middle East targeted the luxury Radisson SAS, Grand Hyatt and Days Inn hotels, which are usually packed with foreigners.

Source: AFP