Amman, Jordan – A gunman opened fire on Western tourists at Roman ruins in the heart of Jordan’s capital Monday, killing a British man and wounding six other people before being overpowered.
Police said the attacker came from the same area as the slain leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq.
The attack at an ancient amphitheater came despite a heavy clampdown on security in this key U.S. ally since a string of deadly bombings at hotels last year that al-Qaeda in Iraq claimed to have staged.
Government spokesman Nasser Judeh said investigations showed that the assault was an “individual act” and that the gunman had “no links with domestic or foreign” terrorist networks.
He spoke after a security official said police were trying to determine if the gunman, Nabeel Ahmed Issa Jaourah, was enticed by Islamic militants or terrorist networks to carry out his mission.
The official said Jaourah, 38, is from Rusaifa, a village outside Zarqa, the hometown of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq who was killed June 7 when a U.S. plane bombed his Iraq hideout.
The dead man was identified only as a 30-year-old Briton. The wounded were reportedly two British women, a Dutch man, an Australian woman, a New Zealand woman and a Jordanian police officer.
