NEW YORK (AP) - Police have stepped up patrols of hotels in Manhattan as a precaution following the suicide bombings of three hotels in the Jordanian capital of Amman. Without providing details, police said Thursday that the number of critical response patrol vehicles was increased, and that special attention was being paid to hotels in midtown and downtown Manhattan.
Stepped up security was visible at several midtown hotels early Thursday. Three squad cars and a number of patrol officers could be seen in front of a midtown Hilton hotel.
Squad cars were also parked in front of the nearby Sheraton Manhattan, and at the Grand Hyatt New York, adjacent to Grand Central Terminal.
In Washington, the Homeland Security Department was not yet asking state and local officials to ramp up security in the wake of the Jordan bombings, a spokesman said. However, that could change if new information became known indicating a credible domestic threat linked to the attacks, the spokesman said.
The department supports local decisions to raise security measures, the spokesman said.
In the attacks in Amman, the suicide bombers detonated explosives at the Grand Hyatt, Radisson SAS and Days Inn hotels. One of the explosions took place inside a hall where 300 guests were celebrating a wedding.
Al-Qaida claimed responsibility Thursday for the attacks. The claim appeared on an Islamic Web site that acts as a clearinghouse for statements by militant groups.
