Jordan arrests Arabs over Aqaba rocket attacks

Interior Minister Awni Yarfas said security forces were making headway in the probe into the firing of three Katyusha rockets that missed their targets but hit Jordanian facilities in the city, killing one soldier and injuring another. ‘‘The authorities have made advanced progress in their work,’’ Yarfas said, without giving any details.

The Bahrain-based US Fifth Fleet said one missile narrowly missed the USS Ashland, an amphibious ship designed to transport marines and launch assault landing craft and helicopters.

Security sources said several Iraqis, a Syrian and scores of Egyptians and Jordanians were among those detained in the poor Shalala area, known as a hotbed of crime and a hideout for smugglers and cross border drug trading.

Police sources said a number of unused Katyushas were also found in the warehouse in the industrial area near the city centre from where investigators say the rockets were launched.

The authorities had earlier said the warehouse was leased a few days before the Friday attack by Iraqis and Egyptians.

One Jordanian security official said that while they have not conclusively established who ultimately sponsored the attacks several new leads point to Osama bin Laden’s Al Qaeda network. He did not elaborate.

A security source said initial probes indicate the attackers may have planned to hit other targets including King Abdullah’s beach palace resort and a hotel complex used by American soldiers.