DECEMBER 2005

Identifying the bombers, the Jordanians identified Safah Mohammad Ali as one of the alleged bombers. Ali was captured by the American forces in November, 2004 when they attacked the Iraqi Sunni city of Falluja flattening civilian homes and using chemical weapons (white phosphorus and upgraded napalm bombs) to obliterate resistance fighters, innocent women, children, old people, and even all the animals in the city. Ali was identified, then, as a fighter in the Black Banners Brigade. He could have been detained in any one of the American torture prisons, such as Abu Ghraib. There is no explanation of how did he escape from detention and traveled undetected to Amman to detonate himself in a hotel.

Pictures of the bombing of Hyatt and Radisson hotels show a devastating damage to the ceilings of the halls. How could a suicide bomber, strapped with an explosive belt, cause such damage to the ceilings. The explosives should cause damage to the floor and the walls of the hall rather than the ceiling. The logical conclusion would be that the bombs were implanted in the ceilings rather than carried by a suicide bomber. The suicide bombers story was created and spun to cover up the real crime.

The real targets of the bombings were some Palestinian high ranking officials and Chinese military personnel. The commander of the Palestinian West Bank intelligence Chief Basheer Nafe’,  his deputy Abid Allouni, the Commercial Attaché at the Palestinian embassy in Cairo Jihad Fattoh, the brother of Palestinian Legislative Council speaker Rawhi Fattoh, and Mus’ab Kharma deputy chairman of Cairo-Amman Bank in Palestinian territory. The Chinese victims were three “students” from China’s University of National Defense. It was reported that these “students” were members of a delegation invited by the Royal Jordanian National Defense College on an academic exchange program. They were staying at the bombed Days Inn. It is interesting to note that these “students” were not young, but were over 40 years old. It was reported that these Chinese “students” were meeting with the Palestinian officials when they all were killed by the bombing.

It seems that the Chinese government had considered the killing of their citizens as a serious matter and believed they have been deliberately targeted. The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs website had warned all Chinese organizations throughout the world to take necessary measures to ensure security of life and property. 

It is no secret that the Chinese government sympathizes with the Palestine cause as stated by Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao in November 2004 when he stated that “The restoration of the Palestinian people’s legitimate rights, including the right to statehood, should be the primary objective of the efforts to resolve the Middle Ease issue.”  At a UN meeting held in Beijing in December 2003 to discuss the issue of Palestine, China had worked actively through diplomatic channels to promote peace in the Middle East. It also provided humanitarian assistance to Palestinians. During a press conference in January 2004 Peter Hansen, commissioner-general of UNRWA for Palestinian Refugees expressed his grateful to China, who had increased its contribution to the agency’s budget. Last November the Chinese Vice Premier Hui Liangyu, special envoy of Hu Jintao, attended the funeral of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. The Chinese were also present during the Palestinian election last January as international observers to guarantee a fair and free election and to prevent any obstacle Israel may use to block the election.

During May 1995 the newly elected Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas traveled to China to meet with leaders, including President Hu Jintao, Premier Wen Jiabao, and State Councilor Tang Jiaxuan, in an attempt to improve relationship between the two countries including economic assistance, and to increase political efforts to push forward the Middle East peace process. The two parties signed five documents of cooperation between them including China-Palestine agreement of economic and technological cooperation, agreement of economic cooperation, and trade and technological cooperation.

Israel considers this Chinese support to Palestinians is a threat to its interests that must put an end to. The Amman bombing was meant to be a warning message to the Chinese. To kill two birds in one stone and to direct the blame towards terrorist Al-Zarqawi, Israeli operatives targeted not just the Palestinian and the Chinese officials, but also innocent civilians to hide the real target of its operation.

xymphora update:

Bomb trigger

We can now start to get an idea of the very simple but ingenious way in which the Jordan bombs were activated. I think we can take as a given that the target of the bombs was the Palestinians, particularly the chief Palestinian spy, and the Chinese military officials. Besides killing the Palestinians, the bomb was intended to send a message to the Chinese that they shouldn't be dealing with the Palestinians (I'll leave it up to you to guess the identity of the only country in the world that might want to send that kind of message). Any other story completely ignores the fact that it is just too much of a coincidence that the Palestinian and Chinese officials died. The technical problem was how to manage the bombing so that the right targets ended up dead.

The civilian deaths were required to lay the basis for the suicide bomb fable. In other words, most people died simply to hide the identity of the real targets, as an attack against only those people would make the identity of the killers too obvious. The bombers needed a sure-fire way to ensure that the targets were together in a room pre-planted with the bombs, and that the bombs in the other hotels were detonated at the same time as the bomb directed at the real targets.

A timer wouldn't work, as no one could be sure when the targets would be together in the room. Cell phone triggers might not work, and a radio signal might be jammed (especially with all the spies about). So they came up with a clever low-tech solution. The bombs were pre-planted in the ceilings, and hooked up to the hotel electrical systems. As long as the power was on, the detonators were off. As soon as the power was interrupted, the detonators were triggered. Someone at the front desk in charge of booking the rooms booked the Chinese and Palestinians into the same conference room, made sure they were all in, and then used the house phone to call the hotel electrical room. The agent in the electrical room telephoned the other hotels to tell them to set off their almost simultaneous cover explosions which disguised the real target, and flipped the circuit breaker to the room containing the Chinese and Palestinians. Boom! An added bonus is that the darkness hid the real source of the blasts, allowing for the creation of the suicide bomber explanation. The Associated Press reports:

"A security official, meanwhile, said lights in sections of both the Radisson and Hyatt hotels went out just before the near-simultaneous blasts in apparently coordinated fashion. A man who was working as a disc jockey at the Radisson, where a Jordanian-Palestinian wedding reception was bombed, also recalled how the ballroom where the party was being held mysteriously went dark.

'The lights at the wedding hall went off seconds, maybe just one second, before the blast, although there was electricity outside the room in the corridor, the nearby lobby area and the reception,' said Fadi al-Kessi.

'For some reason, I looked to my right in the darkness and saw what looked liked lightning, then there was a loud boom. It felt like the explosion came from the ceiling, then people started running out.'"

Moustapha Akkad, died yesterday as a result of injuries sustained in one of the bomb blasts in Jordan aged 75.

Akkad, 74, who lived in Los Angeles, died at 07:30 in a Jordanian hospital where he was being treated, according to surgeon Dr Yousef Qisous.

"He had bleeding in the lungs, his ribs were fractured and he died of his wounds and a severe heart attack this morning," said Qisous.

The Syrian film director's daughter Reem Monla was also among the dead

LOS ANGELES Syrian-born film producer Moustapha Akkad, whose three decades of work in Hollywood ranged from the cult "Halloween" slasher films to movies with Muslim themes, died Friday from wounds sustained in the hotel bombings in Jordan. He was 75.The Los Angeles resident died in a Jordanian hospital where he was being treated.

Akkad had been greeting his daughter, Rima Akkad Monla, in the lobby of the Radisson hotel when the bombs exploded. Monla, 34, also died and was buried in Tripoli, Lebanon.

Akkad produced all eight "Halloween" movies. He also directed and produced two religious-themed films, "The Message" and "Lion of the Desert," both starring Anthony Quinn. Akkad worked closely with Hollywood executive Bob Weinstein on a number of movies. "Everyone at The Weinstein Co. is deeply saddened by the loss of our friend and colleague, Moustapha Akkad," Weinstein said. "Our thoughts are with his family during this very difficult time."

Akkad was born in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo in July 1930, the eldest of eight siblings. He came to California in 1950 to study filmmaking after finishing his secondary studies in Syria, according to his sister, Leila Akkad. He earned a degree in theater arts from the University of California, Los Angeles, then went to work as a production assistant for renowned director Sam Peckinpah on the Western, "Ride the High Country" in 1962.

Akkad's most serious efforts could be seen in his two dramas about the history of Islam. "The Message," a 1976 film about the Prophet Muhammad, was widely acclaimed in the Middle East. But a group of American Muslims declared "The Message" to be sacrilege and took hostages at three locations when the film opened in Washington, demanding that it not be shown in the United States. Akkad was baffled by the reaction to the film, which he said cost $17 million to make and was nominated for an Academy Award for best original score. "I made the film to bring the story of Islam, the story of 700 million people, to the West," Akkad told The Associated Press in 1977.

"Lion of the Desert," a 1981 film, told the story of a Muslim rebel who fought against Italy's World War II conquest of Libya.

Akkad's daughter, Rima, grew up in Los Angeles graduated from the University of Southern California in 1995 with a degree in international relations. She pursued a master's degree in Middle East studies at American University in Beirut, where she met her husband Ziad Monla, 35. The couple, married for six years, had two sons, ages 2 and 4. Patricia Akkad could not be reached Friday about her ex-husband's death, Moustapha Akkad also had three sons, Tarek, Malek and Zeido. Funeral services were scheduled for Sunday in his hometown of Aleppo.

_ Associated Press Writers Shafika Mattar in Amman, Jordan, Hussein Dakroub in Beirut, Lebanon, and Christina Almeida and Ian Gregor in Los Angeles contributed to this story.

xiaodong people cancels any delusions we might have

Thursday, November 10, 2005
BUT HAARETZ OFCOURSE CANCELS SUCH "RUMOURS" LATER

A number of Israelis staying on Wednesday at the Radisson hotel were evacuated before the bombing by Jordanian security forces, apparently due to a specific security alert. They were escorted back to Israel by security personnel

The Foreign Ministry stated Wednesday that no Israeli tourists are known to have been injured in the blasts. Representatives of Israel's embassy in Amman were in contact with local authorities to examine any report of injured Israelis, but none were received. There are often a number of Israeli businessman and tourists in Amman, including in the hotels hit Wednesday.

Israel's counter-terror headquarters on Wednesday recommended Israeli citizens not travel in Jordan. Travel warnings regarding Jordan were tightened a few months ago, but many Israelis still visit the country. Many also visit other regions such as the Jordanian Arava and the ancient city of Petra.

AMMAN - A blast at the Radisson hotel in the Jordanian capital Amman on Wednesday was caused by a bomb placed in a false ceiling, police sources at the scene told Reuters.

CONFIRMATION:

MMN: The following is a quote from this article: http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/la-fg-bombings10nov10,1,4818949.
story?ctrack=1&;cset=true


The Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported that Israelis staying at the Radisson on Wednesday had been evacuated before the attacks and escorted back home "apparently due to a specific security threat."

Amos N. Guiora, a former senior Israeli counter-terrorism official, said in a phone interview with The Times that sources in Israel had also told him about the pre-attack evacuations.

"It means there was excellent intelligence that this thing was going to happen," said Guiora, a former leader of the Israel Defense Forces who now heads the Institute for Global Security Law and Policy at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland. "The question that needs to be answered is why weren't the Jordanians working at the hotel similarly removed?"

Monday, November 14, 2005

The Jordan river of lies

There are all kinds of problems with the Official Story of the Jordanian bombings. I've mentioned some already, and here are some more:

1. 
   
   Radisson Hotel
   
   
   Hyatt Hotel
   
2. Pictures of the damage appear to show evidence of bombs placed in the ceiling. Since this would be inconsistent with the Official Story that the bombing was done by visitors from Iraq, who presumably had no privileged access to plant the bombs ; the Official Story had to be changed to deny that there were ceiling bombs. If it was a suicide bomb, why would the ceiling twelve feet above the floor be extensively damaged, but the wall directly adjacent to where the bomb is supposed to have gone off be completely unmarked?
   
3. The Jordanians have supposedly found a witness, the wife of one of the suicide bombers. Unfortunately, the story as told by the Associated Press is incoherent (Muasher is Jordanian deputy premier Marwan Muasher):

   "Al-Rishawi was shown on state television wearing a white head scarf, a buttoned, body-length dark denim dress, and belts packed with TNT and ball bearings. Muasher told CNN the belts were captured with her.
   
   Al-Rishawi said she and her husband, Ali Hussein Ali al-Shamari, 35, were wearing explosive-laden belts when they strolled into a Radisson ballroom where hundreds of guests, including children, were attending a Jordanian-Palestinian wedding reception.
   
   'My husband wore a belt and put one on me. He taught me how to use it, how to pull the (primer cord) and operate it,' she said, wringing her hands.
   
   'My husband detonated (his bomb). I tried to explode (my belt) but it wouldn't. I left, people fled running and I left running with them.'
   
   Muasher said al-Rishawi's husband noticed her struggle and pushed her out of the ballroom in order not to attract attention before blowing himself up."

   
   Pushing her out of the ballroom wouldn't attract attention? If she was already outside, how then did she run out with the people running from the bomb? This is the same story from Aljazeera, quoting the wife:

   "'We went into the hotel. He [my husband] took a corner and I took another. There was a wedding in the hotel. There were women and children,' she said.
   'My husband detonated [his bomb] and I tried to explode my belt, but it wouldn't. People fled running and I left running with them.'"

   
   Did he push her out before he set off his bomb, or not? Why would he bother to do so? Why not just set off his bomb? Was he suddenly afraid that his wife might be killed in the explosion (that would be ironic, don't you think?).
   

4. The Jordanian story of how they found her doesn't make sense either (from the same Associated Press story):

   "Al-Rishawi was arrested Sunday morning at a 'safe house' in the same Amman suburb where her husband and the other two bombers rented a furnished apartment, a top Jordanian security official said.
   
   Jordanian security was tipped off to her presence by al-Qaida in Iraq's claim of a female bomber, the official added, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to journalists. The group apparently assumed she was killed in the blasts."

   
   How did the claim that there was a female bomber possibly provide enough information for them to find her in her 'safe house' unless they already knew where the 'safe house' was?
   

5. Why would insurgents fighting the American occupation of Iraq decide to take a "busman's holiday"and blow themselves up in Jordan? Didn't they have enough to do in Iraq? Wouldn't their meager resources of available suicide bombers be better put to use in Iraq?
   
6. Why would Sunni insurgents in Iraq head immediately to blow up a Sunni wedding reception in the hotel? Weren't there much better targets around? Speaking of better targets, how lucky do you have to be to kill a number of Palestinian officials, including the head of Palestinian intelligence, and take out the Chinese defense officials the Palestinians may have been planning to meet? For a bunch of bombers just arrived in town, they sure seemed to know where specific targets were located.
   
   xymphora.blogspot