CAIRO, Egypt – Jordanian authorities are assigning blame for the bombings in Amman to Osama bin Laden’s Al Qaeda connection, which is notorious for executing simultaneous attacks minutes apart.

The bombers that struck yesterday hit three hotels with Western brands – the Grand Hyatt, Radisson SAS, and the Days Inn – and killed at least 67 people and wounded at least 300. A terror mastermind affiliated with Al Qaeda, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, hails from Zarqa, a town only 30 minutes from Amman. In 2002, Mr. Zarqawi’s organization claimed credit for the murder of a senior American USAID official, Laurence Foley. The Radisson SAS Hotel was the target of a foiled Al Qaeda attack scheduled for the turn of the millennium.

The triple suicide bombing hit yesterday at the heart of one of America’s closest allies in the war on terror. Not only has the Hashemite Kingdom agreed to interrogate Al Qaeda suspects handed over by the American military, but the regime has cooperated closely with Israel in thwarting Palestinian Arab terror. Nonetheless, Jordan has provided safe haven for Saddam Hussein’s two daughters and is the location of the headquarters of Arab Bank – an institution deeply implicated in the scandal that allowed Saddam to siphon billions of dollars of his country’s oil profits when Iraq was ostensibly under U.N. control.

Last night, King Abdullah said that yesterday’s attacks “would not dissuade Jordan from pursuing its role in fighting terrorism and the criminal terrorist groups and those who are behind them and justify their acts.” He said his kingdom would “remain stable and secure.”

In Washington, Secretary of State Rice issued a statement promising American cooperation in the wake of the violence. “The United States has had no closer ally than Jordan in the war on terror, and Jordan will find no better friend than the United States at this difficult hour,” she said. “America has offered Jordan whatever assistance and support it may need in response to this horrific attack. We will stand together, unwavering, to defeat the evil that threatens our people and way of life.” Ms. Rice is scheduled to begin a tour of the Middle East today.

According to Reuters, the first blast occurred at about 8:50 p.m. at the luxury Grand Hyatt Hotel, shattering its stone entrance. A few minutes later, police reported an explosion at the Radisson SAS Hotel a short distance away. Police said five people were killed and at least 20 were wounded in the blast at a wedding hall where at least 300 people were celebrating, the Associated Press reported. Shortly after, a similar blast rocked the Days Inn hotel nearby.

Reuters quoted Major Bashir al-Da’aja as saying officials believe all three blasts were carried out by suicide bombers. “The explosions indicated the involvement of Al Qaeda, which has launched coordinated attacks on high-profile, Western targets in the past,” a police official said.

In Cairo, the immediate response from a prominent member of the Muslim Brotherhood was condemnation and shock. “It’s not clear who is behind it, nothing has been declared. But this is terrible, it is too bad. This kind of attack does not give any benefit to the people, to the society. Violence can never contribute to the society,” Mohammed Morsi said in an interview. The Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt is widely recognized as spawning Islamist ideology, though the organization here has condemned violence as a way of achieving its goal of creating an Islamic republic.

Salameh Nematt, the Washington editor of a leading Arabic newspaper, al-Hayat, said yesterday, “This kind of attack was waiting to happen. All of Jordan’s neighbors have been hit. You have a lot of suspects, Baathists in Jordan, not to mention Zarqawi, the world’s biggest terrorist, has been saying he wants to attack somewhere outside of Iraq for some time.”

Mr. Nematt also noted that the Hashemite Kingdom has “been inching closer to the Iraqi government for some time now.”

Earlier this month, the Jordanian king met with the Iraqi premier, Ibrahim Jaafari, and signed a new counterterrorism and security agreement with the elected Iraqi leader.

The meeting thawed a rocky relationship between Jordan and its neighbor, and there are signs that Jordan may soon send an ambassador to Baghdad following the 2003 bombing of Amman’s embassy there.