The vaunted tranquillity of Jordan amid the seemingly permanent instability afflicting its neighbours was bloodily interrupted this week by three bombs, probably set off suicidally, in posh hotels frequented by westerners, Israelis and the Jordanian elite in the capital, Amman. First reports said that the blasts, in the Grand Hyatt, the Radisson and the Days Inn hotels, killed at least 67 people and wounded more than 150. The Jordanian assumption-bolstered by a claim on the internet-was that al-Qaeda was responsible. But it is easy to guess. Jordan is a vital regional ally of the United States, which promotes and bolsters the country and its 43-year-old king, Abdullah, who succeeded his late father, Hussein, six years ago, as a showpiece of economic and political progress and globalisation. With only 5m people and wedged between Israel, Syria, Iraq and Saudi Arabia ("the neighbours from hell", as the king has privately called them), Jordan is now the world's fourth-biggest recipient of American aid.
展开▼
