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AMMAN, Jordan (AP) - An assassin pumped eight shots into an American diplomat outside his home Monday in the first known killing of a Western envoy in the Jordanian capital.
The U.S. Embassy identified the victim as Laurence Foley, an employee of the U.S. Agency for International Development mission in Jordan, which handles foreign aid and humanitarian programs.
While Jordan is officially allied with the United States, anti-American sentiment has been rising with public opposition to a threatened U.S. attack on Iraq, Jordan’s eastern neighbor and primary trading partner. The kingdom’s 1994 peace treaty with Israel also has made it a target for Muslim militants and terrorist groups.
Jordanian Information Minister Mohammed Affash Adwan would not speculate on whether terrorists were involved, but called the attack **“an aggression on Jordan and its national security.” **
Foreign Minister Marwan Muasher went to the U.S. Embassy to express condolences and promised swift action to catch the shooter.
“The Jordanian government is going to deal seriously with this horrible crime,” the Jordanian news agency Petra quoted him as saying.
The gunman escaped and there was no immediate claim of responsibility.
The U.S. Embassy said in a statement that U.S. authorities “are working closely with Jordanian officials to investigate this horrible crime.” The embassy warned Americans to “remain vigilant.”
Security was immediately increased at embassies and diplomatic missions. In an unusual scene for Amman, red beret-clad special forces riding jeeps mounted with machine-guns escorted diplomatic vehicles through the city.
Foley, 62, was shot as he walked to his car at 7:30 a.m., according to a senior Jordanian security official, speaking on condition of anonymity. The bullets came from a 7 mm pistol, he said.
Foley died instantly, Adwan said.
While initial reports spoke of “gunmen,” the official said the preliminary investigation indicated that one gunman, working with accomplices, killed Foley. Doctors who performed the autopsy recovered eight bullets — all of the same type — from the head, chest and abdomen.
Jordanian security officials said Foley’s wife called police after the attack outside his house in a middle-class district of Amman.
Neighbors said they did not hear any gunshots, raising questions about whether a silencer was used. The Jordanian security official said only that the attack was apparently **“well-organized and well-planned.” **
Large numbers of police searched the shooting scene for fingerprints and other evidence.
Jordan is known for its tight security, but several attacks have been directed against Israelis in Amman and along the Jordanian-Israel border. Jordan and Egypt are the two Arab states that have signed peace treaties with Israel.
One Israeli businessman was shot and killed last year in the same neighborhood as Foley, and two Israeli diplomats were wounded by gunshots in 2000.
On Sept. 27, the U.S. government said had received uncorroborated information indicating that, as of this summer, a member of Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaida terror network was considering a plan to kidnap U.S. citizens in Jordan.
State Department Spokesman Richard Boucher said then that the government could not determine whether the threat was credible or when it would be implemented.
But the U.S. Embassy in Jordan notified Americans to be vigilant, and renewed that warning Monday.
Two years ago, a group of 28 Arab men plotted to use poison gas and explosives in attacks against Americans and Israelis in hotels and tourist sites during New Year celebrations here. The plot was uncovered and foiled in November 1999.
The U.S. Agency for International Development is an independent organization that provides economic development and humanitarian aid in support of U.S. foreign policy. In Jordan, the agency is working to improve water resources management, access to health care and more economic opportunities for the country’s 5.1 million residents.