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WASHINGTON, Nov. 10, 2005 – President Bush condemned the terrorist attacks that left more than 50 people dead in Jordan Nov. 9, vowing to continue working with other countries around the world "to make sure that al Qaeda and people affiliated with al Qaeda are brought to justice."
The al Qaeda organization claimed responsibility for the suicide bombings of the Grand Hyatt, Radisson and Days Inn hotels in Amman. Press reports said today that a group linked to Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, al-Qaeda's leader in Iraq, acknowledged on its Web site that it carried out the attacks. Speaking at a joint appearance with President Ali Abdullah Saleh of Yemen, who is visiting the White House today, Bush said the attacks on innocent people defile Islam and demonstrate terrorists' ruthlessness. "The bombings should remind all of us that there is an enemy in this world that is willing to kill innocent people, willing to bomb a wedding celebration, in order to advance their cause," the president said. Regardless of their nationality, all people who love freedom and respect human life must respond, he said. "We have an obligation and a duty to remain strong, remain firm, and to bring these people to justice." Saleh reaffirmed Yemen's commitment to working with the United States and the international community to combat terrorism. "Our mutual objective here is the declaration of war against terrorism and extremism," he said. In a statement issued Nov. 9, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said the "wanton acts of murder" against innocent people in Amman violate every faith and creed. "The United States has had no closer ally than Jordan in the war on terror, and Jordan will find no better friend than the United States at this difficult hour," she said. "America has offered Jordan whatever assistance and support it may need in response to this horrific attack," Rice said. "We will stand together, unwavering to defeat the evil that threatens our people and our way of life."
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