The diplomat, identified by Jordanian security officials as Lawrence Foley from the U.S. Agency for International Development, was killed at 7:30 a.m. The Arab satellite channel Al-Jazeera said he dealt with U.S. foreign aid. "Gunmen sprayed the diplomat with several shots, killing him instantly," Information Minister Mohammed Affash Adwan told The Associated Press.

Adwan declined to speculate on whether the attack on Foley was a terrorist incident. But, he said, "This attack, regardless of its motives and reasons, is an aggression on Jordan and its national security.

"We will not tolerate that at all."

U.S. Embassy officials were not answering telephone calls.

The security officials said Foley's wife called police after the attack outside his house on Abdullah Ghosheh street, in a middle-class district of Amman.

Jordan is known for its tight security, but several attacks have been directed against Israelis in Amman and along the Jordanian-Israel border. Jordan and Egypt are the two Arab states to have peace treaties with Israel.

The slaying comes at a tense time in the Middle East, with many in the Arab world angry with the United States for its push for a war to topple Iraqi President Saddam Hussein and for what Arabs regard as biased U.S. support for Israel at the expense of the Palestinians.