- AMMAN, Jordan (Reuters) -
A senior U.S. diplomat was gunned down with three bullets to the chest
outside his Amman home on Monday, prompting outrage from the United States
which condemned what it called an "incomprehensible act."
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- An unidentified assailant shot the American, named by
diplomats as Lawrence Foley, a senior administrator at the U.S. Agency
for International Development (USAID), as he was leaving for work, officials
said. It was the first assassination of a Western diplomat in Jordan.
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- No one immediately claimed responsibility for the murder
of the 62-year-old American in an affluent area of the Jordanian capital.
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- Foley was killed at a time of rising anti-American sentiment
in the region amid perceived U.S. bias toward Israel and Washington's threatened
military campaign against Iraq.
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- "We are outraged by this incomprehensible act,"
the U.S. embassy in Amman said in a statement. "The U.S. embassy has...reiterated
our recommendation that all U.S. citizens remain vigilant in view of threats
to American interests."
-
- The statement referred to a U.S. government message issued
on October 13 warning U.S. citizens in Jordan, a close U.S. ally, of a
report that a member of Osama bin Laden 's al Qaeda network had plans to
kidnap Americans in the country.
-
- A witness said he saw Foley's body lying outside his
two-story villa "with blood near the driver's door of his Mercedes
car."
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- JORDAN SHOCKED AT SHOOTING
-
- A Jordanian security official said Foley was shot at
close range. "One assailant or more was behind the criminal shooting
and investigations are ongoing to reveal the culprits," the official
told Reuters, asking not to be identified.
-
- Foley's wife immediately notified security officials
who rushed to the scene and cordoned off the area.
-
- In Washington, the State Department said its officials
were not taking calls yet on the incident.
-
- Jordanian officials expressed shock and indignation at
the first killing of a Western diplomat in the security conscious country,
traditionally seen by the West as a model of stability in a volatile region.
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- "This attack, regardless of its motives, is an attack
on the country and its national security," the official Petra news
agency quoted Information Minister Mohammad Adwan as saying.
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- The killing prompted an immediate tightening of security
at the fortress-like U.S. embassy in the Abdoun district of Amman and at
other Western embassies, diplomats said.
-
- Since a landmark peace treaty with Israel in 1994, there
have been various attempts in Jordan to kill Israeli diplomats, but with
no reported deaths.
-
- Adwan later told reporters that progress was being made
by investigators but it was premature to speculate about who was behind
the killing.
-
- "It's an isolated incident. It's very unfortunate
that the American diplomat passed away. We are sure who ever has done it
is targeting not only the U.S. but targeting Jordan," he said.
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- Jordan has been rewarded this year with extra U.S. military
assistance in return for its backing for President Bush 's "war on
terrorism." The country also ranks as the fourth largest recipient
of USAID funds in the world.
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- USAID is the chief U.S. agency providing disaster relief
abroad, helping poor countries and promoting democratic reforms.
-
- Jordanian Foreign Minister Marwan Muasher visited the
U.S. embassy to express condolences, and told Petra the authorities would
act firmly and bring the culprits to justice soon.
-
- The murder was an affront to tough security measures
in the kingdom that have included arrests of scores of Iraqi nationals
without residency status as part of contingency plans before a possible
U.S. assault on Iraq, officials said privately.
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