Jordan identifies four Iraqis as hotel attackers

The Jordanian government today gave the names of three Iraqi men and an Iraqi woman who took part in the suicide attacks against…

The Jordanian government today gave the names of three Iraqi men and an Iraqi woman who took part in the suicide attacks against luxury hotels in Amman.

Deputy Prime Minister Marwan al-Muasher said the woman, who failed to blow herself up and remained in custody, was the wife of one of the attackers and the sister of a lieutenant of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the leader of Al Qaeda in Iraq.

The three bombers died in the attack, which left 57 dead.

Mr Muasher told a news conference the attackers entered Jordan four days before Wednesday's near-simultaneous attacks. He said the woman accompanied her husband into a wedding hall in one of the hotels and that when her suicide belt failed to blow up the husband pushed her outside before detonating himself.

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Iraq's al Qaeda, led by Jordanian-born Zarqawi, had claimed the blasts that killed 57 people at three hotels in Amman.

It said in an Internet statement that a married couple and two other men - all Iraqis - had carried out the attacks.

Yesterday, Mr Muasher said the attackers were three males, but rejected speculation that a woman had been among them.