The USS Ashland is seen at Aqaba port in Amman August 19, 2005. Two U.S. Navy ships sailed out of Jordan's port of Aqaba on Friday, soon after one of the vessels narrowly missed being struck by a missile, the U.S. Fifth Fleet and witnesses said. Attackers fired a rocket near the USS Ashland, but the missile missed the vessel and hit a nearby warehouse instead, U.S. military officials said. The two vessels had been on a joint training exercise with the Jordanian navy. (Abraham Faroujian/Reuters)
Saturday, 20 August , 2005 - 08:07:00
Reporter: Peter Cave
ELIZABETH JACKSON: An al-Qaeda related group has claimed responsibility for a Katusha rocket attack launched from a rented warehouse in the Jordanian Red seaport of Aqaba which killed a Jordanian soldier and injured an Israeli taxi driver.
The main target appears to have been two US warships docked in Aqaba, which escaped unscathed.
Our Foreign Affairs Editor Peter Cave reports from Jerusalem.
PETER CAVE: Aqaba lies on the Red Sea just 15 kilometres across the water from the Israeli resort of Eilat.
Three Russian-designed Katusha rockets were launched from the roof a warehouse building in Aqaba. The first shot across the bow of the USS Ashland and hit a wharf building with a thunderous explosion. A Jordanian soldier on guard outside was killed.
A second rocket passed near a second US ship, the USS Kearsage. It exploded in the grounds of a nearby public hospital, causing no major damage or injuries.
The third rocket crossed the narrow gulf of Aqaba and hit a road beside the Eilat airport, wounding the luckiest taxi driver in Israel. The Katusha ploughed through the empty back seat of his car, gouging a deep hole in the roadway, but did not explode.
The two US warships – a helicopter carrying amphibious assault ship, and a small aircraft carrier equipped with harrier jump jets – immediately put to sea.
The Israeli and Jordanian Governments have launched a joint investigation, and Jordanian authorities said they were seeking a Syrian and two Iraqis driving a car with Kuwaiti plates.
The warehouse where the Katusha launchers were found had been rented this week by four people believed to be Iraqi or Egyptian.
Not long after the attack a claim of responsibility, which can’t be verified, was posted on the website of called the Abdullah al Azzam Brigades of the al-Qaeda organisation.
It said a group of our holy warriors targeted a gathering of American ships docked in Aqaba port and also in Eilat port, with three Katyusha rockets and the warriors returned safely to their headquarters.
The same group has also claimed responsibility for the bombings in July of Egypt's Sinai Peninsula resort of Sarm el Sheik.
A spokesman for the US fifth fleet based in Bahrain said it was pretty safe to conclude that they were probably trying to hit one or both of the US ships. He said no sailors or marines were injured and that both ships would continue joint exercises with the Jordanian navy.
A spokesman for Jordan's Interior Ministry said the building which was damaged was a logistics hub for Iraq used by the US military for moving commodities. He said there was little damage.
News of the attack immediately sent world oil prices back above the $US 64 dollar mark, in what analysts described as a knee jerk reaction to perception that the Middle East remains a powder keg.
This is Peter Cave in Jerusalem for Saturday AM.
