THE suicide bombings that ripped through three hotels in Amman were claimed yesterday by one of Jordan’s own, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq.

At least 56 people died on Wednesday night when three suicide bombers struck the three American-owned hotels.

One of the bombers rammed a car bomb into the building. The two others detonated vests packed with explosives inside a crowded lobby and a ballroom.

Jordanian security officials, who have long battled to ensure that the carnage in neighbouring Iraq does not spill over into their peaceful kingdom, immediately pointed the finger of blame towards al-Zarqawi’s group.

The suspicion was confirmed yesterday when a statement from al-Qaeda in Iraq appeared on an Islamist website claiming responsibility for the worst terrorist attack in modern Jordanian history.

The statement boasted that the attacks had been carried out by “a group of our best lions” as punishment for Jordan’s close co-operation with the United States and other Western countries.

“Some hotels were chosen which the Jordanian despot had turned into a backyard for the enemies of the faith, the Jews and crusaders,” the message read, in a reference to the Jordanian ruler, King Abdullah.

The hotels that were struck — the Radisson, the Grand Hyatt and the Days Inn — are favourite haunts of Western contractors, businessmen, diplomats and journalists in transit to neighbouring Iraq or conducting their business there.

But yesterday it emerged that the vast majority of the victims were not Westerners but Jordanians, many of Palestinian origin.

Three Chinese, two Palestinians, five Iraqis, a Saudi, an Indonesian and an American were the only foreigners killed.

Most of the victims died when one bomber blew himself up in the middle of a wedding party at the Radisson.

The unprecedented carnage in the usually tranquil Jordanian capital — once described by the travel writer Paul Theroux as “repulsively spick and span” — sent a wave of revulsion through its residents, not least because it came at the hands of one of their own citizens.

Hundreds of people took to the streets to chant their protests against al-Zarqawi, who carries a price tag of $25 million (£14 million) on his head for his acts of terrorism in Iraq. Many Jordanians had seen the attacks as legitimate resistance; these they did not. “Burn in Hell, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi,” the protesters chanted as they gathered near one of the stricken hotels, while others drove past with Jordanian flags showing through the windows of their cars. “Death to al-Zarqawi, the villain and the traitor,” they shouted.

Jack Straw, the Foreign Secretary, stopped off in Amman en route to Baghdad to offer support to one of the West’s staunchest allies in the Middle East.

“Jordan’s sorrow is our sorrow,” Mr Straw said on the steps of the bombed-out Grand Hyatt. “Jordan’s grief is our grief. Jordan’s determination to fight this mindless terrorism is our determination as well.”

Some Iraqi officials, however, said that they hoped that the bombings may serve as a wake-up call to Jordanians about what is happening across the border.

“I hope these crimes will show the real face of the terrorists to all Jordanian people because, unfortunately, there are still some groups in Jordan supporting terrorist criminals, describing them as resistance, and they are deceived by these claims,” Jalal Talabani, the Iraqi President, said in Rome after meeting Pope Benedict XVI. Extra security was also deployed to areas where the city’s 400,000 Iraqi population are concentrated, for fear that reprisals may be taken against them.

Security officials have not ruled out that the bombers may be Iraqi, and there are fears that tensions between the groups could erupt.

Iraqis living in Amman bombarded the mobile phones of friends and colleagues with messages declaring themselves Muslim brothers and disassociating themselves from the attacks.

At the Amman Surgical Hospital, Abdul Khadi Saleh, an Iraqi businessmen who was caught up in the bombings during a brief work trip to the city, said that he had been interrogated for hours in his hospital bed by intelligence officers armed with photographs of Iraqi suspects.

“It was only me they were asking, none of the Jordanians,” he said. “I don’t know who did this. I only came from Baghdad for a bit of peace and to do some business, but the terrorists are following us. When I regained consciousness after the blast, I didn’t know for a moment whether I was in Baghdad or Amman.”

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