http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/2367311.stm

Monday, 28 October, 2002, 09:40 GMT

Brown Bread Yankkkee in Jordan

Police cordoned off the area
A senior US embassy official has been shot dead
outside his home in the Jordanian capital, Amman.

He has been named as Lawrence Foley, an employee of
USAid, the American development agency.
He lived in western Amman's middle-class residential
area.

A BBC correspondent in the
region says the killing
comes at a time of rising
anti-American sentiment in
Jordan and the rest of the
Arab world.

Police said Mr Foley was hit
by several bullets shot by
at least one attacker.

His wife found his body in
the garden outside their
home and raised the
alarm.

Jordanian Information minister Mohammad Adwan said
it was too early to speculate whether it was a terrorist
assassination, or just a criminal act.

But he said the killing "regardless of its motives, is an
attack against Jordan and its national security".

Nobody has so far claimed responsibility for the attack.

An investigation had been launched and the area had
been sealed off by police.

Anti-Americanism

Jordan is known for its tight security, but the BBC
correspondent in Cairo, Hebeh Saleh, says
anti-American sentiment has been rising in the Arab
world.

America's perceived support for Israel and its
threatened military campaign against Iraq have
provoked hostile feelings across the region.

Arab leaders have repeatedly warned that US policies
could destabilise allies like Jordan.

Jordan ranks among the three or four largest USAid
programmes worldwide.