Egyptian president condemns Amman blasts as terrorist attacks

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on Thursday strongly condemned the deadly blasts in three luxury hotels in the Jordanian capital Amman Wednesday night.

President Mubarak denounced the deadly bombings in Jordan, describing them as "terrorist attacks," reported the state-run Nile TV channel.

Egypt will stand with Jordan and its people, Mubarak was quoted as saying.

Meanwhile, Mubarak also made a telephone call with King Abdullah II of Jordan on Thursday, in which he strongly condemned the Wednesday's terrorist bombings that claimed the lives of many innocent civilians. a Jordanian Royal Cabinet statement said.

During the phone conversation, president Mubarak asserted Egypt 's support of Jordanian efforts in combating terrorism and terrorists, a Jordanian Royal Cabinet statement said.

Earlier in the day, Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit denounced what he called "the heinous terrorist attacks" which struck the Jordanian capital Amman Wednesday night.

The attacks was "aimed at killing innocent lives, spreading havoc among civilians and threatening their security and safety," Abul Gheit was quoted as saying by the official MENA news agency.

"Such a horrendous crime will no doubt reinforce our determination to muster every potential and effort on the regional and international level to confront and uproot terrorism," he said.

Three suicide bombings hit the Grand Hyatt, Radisson SAS and Days Inn hotels in Amman late Wednesday, killing at least 56 people.

The al-Qaida group in Iraq, led by Jordanian-born militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, claimed responsibility on Thursday for the bombings in an internet statement, but the authenticity of the statement could not be verified.

Source: Xinhua