Claim: Bombs aimed at Arab security officials

JERUSALEM - High-ranking Jordanian, Palestinian and Saudi security officials reportedly meeting Wednesday in Amman's Grand Hyatt hotel regarding al-Qaida became the targets of last week's hotel bombings in Jordan after the global terror network learned of their planned meeting, according to a statement posted today on the Internet claiming to speak for al-Qaida.

The statement follows WorldNetDaily's exclusive story yesterday reporting two Palestinian security officials killed in the bombings had just concluded a meeting about al-Qaida with security officers from Saudi Arabia and Jordan, according to a source close to the Palestinian Authority.

"With the help of God our fighters after a long time of observation of the hotels had collected information we used to decide upon an attack to hurt the senior secret agents meeting in the hotel – Jordanian, Egyptian and Palestinians – discussing how to fight the Mujahedeen in Palestine, Iraq and the region," read the Internet statement, claiming to represent al-Qaida.

"The al-Qaida in Iraq organization sent three men, Abu Khabib, Abu Maes and Abu Omeir to commit the attack and the men succeeded in passing through all security measures that the dynasty of traitors took to prevent such attacks. We will go on fighting all these traitors and secret service agencies fighting against the Mujaheeden," continued the statement.

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The statement's authenticity could not immediately be verified.

The PA-linked source said today the Palestinian officials "could not have been targets of the attacks," which he said were likely planned months in advance, and suggested the statement may have been posted in direct response to WND's story.

WND broke the story yesterday that Maj. Gen. Bashir Nafeh, head of PA military intelligence in the West Bank, and Col. Abed Allun, a high-ranking Palestinian Preventive Security forces official, were killed in the suicide attack at Amman's Grand Hyatt Hotel Wednesday night after meeting with Jordanian and Saudi security officials.

About 15 minutes before the blast, the Saudi and Jordanian security officers departed the hotel, according to sources close to the Palestinian Authority.

A source close to the PA told WND the officials were meeting in a Grand Hyatt hotel suite about coordinating joint security measures. At the top of the meeting's agenda, the source said, was al-Qaida's regional infiltration.

"The meeting ended less than 20 minutes before the suicide bombers struck the Hyatt. Unfortunately, the Palestinians stayed at the hotel, while the other officials departed," he said.

A PA official said he does not believe either the Jordanian or Saudi security officers were tipped off about the Hyatt bombing.

"It was just one of those coincidences you hear about with these attacks," the official told WND.

The official said he does not believe the security officers were targets of the hotel bombings.

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"The security meeting was planned about two weeks ago. These coordinated attacks likely took months of planning. The statement claiming to be al-Qaida seems to be taking advantage of information released about the security meeting. Maybe the authors just read the WorldNetDaily article."

Two other U.S. owned hotels – the Radisson and Days Inn – also were hit Wednesday in nearly simultaneous blasts.

Jordan's King Abdullah confirmed today al-Qaida was behind the suicide blasts that ripped through his country's hotels.

"It's clear that the perpetrators of the operations were three suicide bombers wearing explosive vests with metal beads to inflict maximum number of dead and injuries," said Abdullah.

Yesterday, al-Qaida's Iraq terror network led by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi claimed responsibility for the attacks, saying the hotels were used by "American and Israeli spies."

Previous stories:

Palestinians killed in Jordan met about al-Qaida

Israeli advance-warning reports 'absolutely false'