Nestled in the far northern niche of the Red Sea, cheek by jowl with Israel, Egypt and Saudi Arabia, the resort of Aqaba has long been safe and attractive for both tourists and world leaders -- mostly because of Jordan's tight security and relative tranquility.
Islamic militants said Friday they attacked it because of the presence of US naval ships, which had been there temporarily carrying out joint exercises with the Jordanian army.
With Israel's resort of Eilat visible only kilometers to the west along the beach, Aqaba has also been a key site for Arab-Israeli peacemaking. Jordan and Israel signed their 1994 peace treaty at a ceremony in the desert attended by then-US President Bill Clinton. In June 2003, the town hosted an Israeli-Palestinian summit attended by US President George W. Bush and Jordan's King Abdullah II. Nine years earlier.
The only port in a country that has only about 20km of coastline, Aqaba is also vital for Jordan's economy. Its port is also used for Iraq's imports from Asia and the Far East -- just as in the past when active trade between the Mideast, Africa and Asia passed through Aqaba.
In 2001, King Abdullah declared the city a free trade zone, creating tax breaks on a range of goods and services. That has attracted investment, including a host of American fast-food joints and hotel chains.
Aqaba, Arabic for "obstacle," was a once a sleepy fishing village, dragged into modern times when the border with neighboring Saudi Arabia was adjusted in 1965. Jordan gained a few extra kilometers of coastline and coral reef south of Aqaba, allowing for the construction of full-size port facility.
The city of 30,000 inhabitants -- just south of a chain of rose red mountains in the midst of desert terrain -- has since become a tourist attraction. Even during times of heightened hostility in the volatile Mideast, Westerners and eastern Europeans flocked into Aqaba because of the relative security it enjoyed.
Since the war that toppled Saddam Hussein in 2003, US military and other officials have come to Aqaba for respite from the battleground in neighboring Iraq.
Aqaba has also been a favorite vacation spot for Jordan's royal family, who keep a compound of palaces on the city's western edge bordering Israel.
Claiming responsibility for Friday's rocket attack, which killed a Jordanian soldier, the al-Qaeda-linked Abdullah Azzam Brigades said in a statement posted on the Internet that a group of "holy warriors ... targeted a gathering of American military ships docking in Aqaba port."
It threatened to topple Abdullah and warned that more attacks would follow.
Jordan has been a target for al-Qaeda and other terrorists for several years. The kingdom is a longtime US ally and Abdullah has been an active player in the US-led global war on terror. The Western-educated monarch has maintained close ties with his Israeli neighbor.
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