Jordan says tourist attacker acted alone

AMMAN – An investigation into a deadly gun attack on Western holidaymakers in Amman has found that the assailant acted alone and had no support from “terrorist” groups, Jordanian officials said yesterday.

“The result of the primary investigation is that this was a lone act. He does not have any connections with terrorist organisations,” government spokesman Nasser Jawdeh told AFP.He said the “criminal act” was carried out by Nabil Ahmad Issa Jaaoura, 38, a Jordanian of Palestinian origin who was arrested after Monday’s shooting that left a British tourist dead and five Western holidaymakers wounded.”He had no ties to any armed group or any suspicious group inside or outside Jordan,” Jawdeh said in an statement carried on state-run Petra news agency.”This is reassuring.”Prime Minister Maaruf Bakhit said Monday that Jaaoura, a blacksmith who hails from the hometown of the slain former head of al-Qaeda in Iraq, had a police record but did not elaborate.Security sources told the independent Al-Ghad newspaper that the gunman had been arrested in Israel some years ago on “criminal charges”.The newspaper also reported that the gunman had told investigators he has been “full of hatred” ever since one of his brothers was killed during the 1982 Israeli invasion of Lebanon.Over the years Jordan had prided itself as an oasis of relative tranquility in the troubled Middle East, with King Abdullah II often describing Jordan as stuck between a rock and a hard place with Iraq on the east and the Palestinian territories and Israel on the west.But in November suicide bombers shattered Jordanian confidence when they attacked three luxury hotels in Amman, killing 60 people, including about 10 foreigners.The bombings were claimed by the al-Qaeda group in Iraq of slain frontman Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, a Jordanian Islamist slain in a US raid in Iraq in June.At the time, Zarqawi’s group warned of further attacks against Jordan, accusing it of complicity with arch-rival Israel and the United States.Jaaoura, who is married with five children, hails from Zarqawi’s hometown of Zarqa, an impoverished town northeast of Amman, where he worked as a blacksmith.Soon after the attack at a Roman amphitheatre in downtown Amman, Jordanian Interior Minister Eid Fayez branded the shooting a “terror” act and said the Jaaoura was “determined to kill”.Nampa-AFPHe does not have any connections with terrorist organisations,” government spokesman Nasser Jawdeh told AFP.He said the “criminal act” was carried out by Nabil Ahmad Issa Jaaoura, 38, a Jordanian of Palestinian origin who was arrested after Monday’s shooting that left a British tourist dead and five Western holidaymakers wounded.”He had no ties to any armed group or any suspicious group inside or outside Jordan,” Jawdeh said in an statement carried on state-run Petra news agency.”This is reassuring.”Prime Minister Maaruf Bakhit said Monday that Jaaoura, a blacksmith who hails from the hometown of the slain former head of al-Qaeda in Iraq, had a police record but did not elaborate.Security sources told the independent Al-Ghad newspaper that the gunman had been arrested in Israel some years ago on “criminal charges”.The newspaper also reported that the gunman had told investigators he has been “full of hatred” ever since one of his brothers was killed during the 1982 Israeli invasion of Lebanon.Over the years Jordan had prided itself as an oasis of relative tranquility in the troubled Middle East, with King Abdullah II often describing Jordan as stuck between a rock and a hard place with Iraq on the east and the Palestinian territories and Israel on the west.But in November suicide bombers shattered Jordanian confidence when they attacked three luxury hotels in Amman, killing 60 people, including about 10 foreigners.The bombings were claimed by the al-Qaeda group in Iraq of slain frontman Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, a Jordanian Islamist slain in a US raid in Iraq in June.At the time, Zarqawi’s group warned of further attacks against Jordan, accusing it of complicity with arch-rival Israel and the United States.Jaaoura, who is married with five children, hails from Zarqawi’s hometown of Zarqa, an impoverished town northeast of Amman, where he worked as a blacksmith.Soon after the attack at a Roman amphitheatre in downtown Amman, Jordanian Interior Minister Eid Fayez branded the shooting a “terror” act and said the Jaaoura was “determined to kill”.Nampa-AFP