AMMAN, Jordan, Nov. 12 (UPI) -- Jordanian intelligence agents suggested that al-Qaida in Iraq leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi aimed an attack at soft targets after years of frustrated attempts.
"Anybody can go to a hotel with a pistol and kill people," an unnamed security official told the New York Times. "You don't have to be Zarqawi to do that."
Thursday's blasts at three hotels in Amman killed almost 60 people. Moustapha Akkad, a Syrian-born director and producer whose credits include the eight "Halloween" movies, died of his injuries Friday, while his daughter Rima was killed in one of the bombings.
Deputy Prime Minister Marwan Muasher told a news conference the Jordanian security authorities "are sure that Zarqawi is responsible for these blasts," and none of the three suicide bombers were Jordanians.
Officials say they will release the bombers' identities Sunday.
Jordanian-born Zarqawi claimed responsibility for the three attacks on the Grand Hyatt, Radisson SAS and Days Inn hotels Wednesday.
Muasher denied a woman was among the suicide bombers, as al-Qaida in Iraq claimed on an Islamic Web site Friday. The group claimed that three men and one woman, the wife of one of the attackers, had taken part in the triple attack.
