Amman's Roman Amphitheatre witnessed bloodshed once again as a Jordanian gunman opened a fire on a group of foreign tourists visiting the site. A Briton was killed while six others fell wounded, including a police officer, officials said.

Police overpowered the gunman at the scene and arrested him, said government spokesman Nasser Judeh.

Jordan, a key US ally, has been the site of numerous terrorist attacks targeting Westerners and their haunts. The worst came in November with a triple suicide bombing at hotels in Amman that killed 63 people.

Following the November suicide blasts, the authorities tightened security around all tourists attractions and hotels across the kingdom. More metal detectors and police patrols were positioned outside these locations.

Interior Minister Eid al-Fayez said the casualties, beyond the deceased British man and the police officer, included two other British women, a Dutch man, an Australian woman as well as a woman from New Zealand.

"This is a cowardly terrorist attack, which we regret took place on Jordanian soil," al-Fayez told reporters at the scene. "This operation is considered a terrorist act unless the man is found to be deranged," he said, as the gunman is being interrogated.

Judeh, the government spokesman, declined to say if the assailant was believed to be linked to any known terror organization. "The investigation is under way and it's too early to tell," he said, adding the wounded were rushed to a nearby state hospital.

The brazen attack took place in broad daylight as the tourists visited the popular attraction in Amman's bustling downtown district.

The gunman, clean shaven and in his mid-30s, surprised the tourists, wielding a gun and shouting "Allahu akbar," or "God is great," before firing several shots directly at them, said an eyewitness, Mohammad Jawad Ali, an Iraqi.

He said the attack took place at 12:30 PM (09:30 GMT).

The majority of the victims were Jordanian women and children.

There have been attacks against foreigners in recent years and the authorities say they have foiled a number of deadly militant terror plots.

Monday's attack seems to have succeeded due to the location of the attack at the amphitheatre's entrance, a district populated by conservative Muslims and frequented by low-income and unemployed Jordanians and Iraqis.

(China Daily September 5, 2006)