Monday, November 04, 2002
post://84012317/
Man wounded in probe of U.S. diplomat's killing
CNN Online
AMMAN, Jordan -- Jordanian police shot and wounded a man Tuesday who was wanted for questioning in the shooting death of a U.S. diplomat, sources said.
The envoy, Laurence Foley, 60, was gunned down Monday as he walked to his car outside his home in Amman, Jordan's capital.
Jordanian police have issued no formal statement, but sources said police went to Ma'an, a fundamentalist area in southern Jordan, to question the man.
They said he opened fire, hitting two police officers. Police fired back, wounding the man, whom they took to a hospital.
It is unknown why police wanted to question the man about Foley's shooting.
The career public servant was executive officer of the Amman mission of USAID, the U.S. Agency for International Development. (Full story)
Authorities hunting Foley's killer are investigating witness reports of a man near the scene of the shooting.
Some construction workers at a nearby building project and other witnesses in the affluent neighborhood told police they saw a man with his face covered in the vicinity when the shooting occurred, Jordanian security officials told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.
Meanwhile, a group calling itself Shurafaa' al-Urdun, or the Honorables of Jordan, took responsibility for the killing.
But Jordanian security officials discounted the claim, as they did when the group -- unknown before last year -- took responsibility for the killing of Israeli businessman Yitzhak Snir in Amman in August 2001.
Jordanian officials said that they think Snir was killed for criminal, not political, reasons, and that intelligence gathered since the slaying casts doubt on whether the group even exists, the AP reported.
In a statement sent to the London-based Arabic daily Al-Quds Al-Arabi, the group said the killing was in protest against U.S. support for Israel. It also cited a reference to Jerusalem contained in a new U.S. law.
The law requires that in federal documents listing countries and capitals, Jerusalem be referred to as Israel's capital. The group also cited the "bloodshed in Iraq and Afghanistan."
After signing the bill into law, President Bush said that his administration was not legally bound to follow its provision on Jerusalem. "U.S. policy regarding Jerusalem has not changed," Bush said in a statement.
U.S. officials said they have not ruled out terrorism. A U.S. counterterrorism team is assisting Jordanian authorities, Reuters reported.
Edward Gnehm, the U.S. ambassador to Jordan, condemned the shooting as a "cowardly, criminal act."
"We are closely working with the Jordanian authorities to apprehend the person or persons responsible for this crime, and we will not rest until they are found," Gnehm said.
"Jordanians have made absolutely clear that they are taking extraordinary steps and precautions that include changing what they have done before."
Jordan's information minister, Mohammed Affash Adwan, promised to "deal seriously with this horrible crime," which he called "an aggression on Jordan and its national security."
"This incident if anything will make us more cooperative with the United States and the fight against terrorism," he said Monday.
Roadblocks have been set up by police and paramilitary units on major roads in Amman, and there was heightened security at state institutions and ministries.
The fortress-like U.S. Embassy in Amman was implementing new security measures as were other Western embassies.
Gnehm denied that security had been lax outside the U.S. Embassy compound. He said there were no threats or warnings before the killing.
The U.S. Embassy, closed for all but emergency business after the shooting, issued a statement warning Americans in Jordan to "exercise caution, be aware of their surroundings and vary travel routes and times."
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posted @ 12:39 PM
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