Rana Sabbagh-Gargour, The Times correspondent in Jordan, says yesterday's hotel bombings in Amman could serve to unite a country which has become bitterly divided over the invasion of Iraq.

"Jordan is a small country and it seems that everyone knows someone who was affected. Even though we knew that such an attack was inevitable, the sense of shock and outrage is overwhelming.

"I spent this morning in Hay Masoum, the downtrodden village where Abu Musab (al-Zarqawi) once had a house. It's a mixture of Palestinians and Jordanians, mostly blue-collar workers in factories or servicemen in the army and police. It's a typically conservative area and I've been going there regularly to get a feeling for the general mood of the country.

"The people of Jordan were against the US-led invasion of Iraq, and they were angry that their leaders were allowing America to use their country as a base. Most people backed Al-Qaeda, which sells itself in the Arab world as the last vanguard against the American 'oppressors'.

"Until now there has been this divergence between the people on one hand, and the King and the Government on the other. That mood has been hardening because of the domestic situation. Unemployment is around 22 to 24 percent, one fifth of the population lives in poverty, recent increases to fuel prices have done great harm to many people.

"Nowhere has there been a greater failure of the government to communicate with the people than in the mosques. An office was set up with the responsibility for what is taught, but it has failed catastrophically.

"Most of the messages coming out of the mosques have been messages of hatred: saying that America is the infidel, and praising acts of resistance in Iraq. People say that they go in, and when they come out they want to fight. Jordan is a majority Sunni Muslim country and religion is a foundation stone of society.

"The mood was totally different today. This has been a terrible wake-up call. You can feel there's sorrow, anger and disgust. People are saying they are criminals, cowards, animals. They all said that this is not jihad.

"There are demonstrations all over the country with young men out raising Jordan flags and carrying pictures of King Abdullah. They are saying that Jordan will never surrender, that the 'criminals can not crack us open.' They have been texting each other, urging friends to join the marches later today in support or Jordan and in condemnation of terror.

"Abu Musab has destroyed a huge section of his own support. There is now a window of opportunity, a tipping point which the leaders must capitalise on if they are going to resolve this paradox and moderate the public attitude."

Times Recommends

• UN may halt 400-year-old 'freedom of the seas'
• Where the Rosetta belongs can’t be set in stone
• Gas deal on hold, but Ukraine may pay in the end