Six wounded as gunman attacks Jordan bus
AMMAN (AFP) — A teenage Palestinian gunman raked a bus with gunfire in Amman, injuring six people, before turning the gun on himself as police tried to subdue him, officials said on Thursday.
The wounded -- four Lebanese members of an orchestra, a Palestinian woman and the Jordanian bus driver -- were not seriously hurt in Wednesday's late night attack, said government spokesman and Information Minister Nasser Jawdeh.
The US embassy reacted by cautioning its nationals to avoid the area where the attack took place in the heart of the Jordanian capital, noting there had been three previous attacks there since 2006.
Jawdeh said the alleged attacker tried to commit suicide, and that he was seriously wounded while police spokesman Mohamad Khatib said he was "clinically dead" after shooting himself in the head.
Witnesses said tourists were arriving to attend an evening of music at the Roman amphitheatre in Amman when an individual began shooting at the bus at around 11:00 pm (2000 GMT).
A security official told AFP that the gunman was an 18-year-old Palestinian from the Bakaa refugee camp, north of Amman, and had no criminal record other than two minor cases of theft.
The official named the youth as Thaer Abdul Kader al-Wheidi and said he had no known political ties.
They said the attacker did not have a beard and did not appear to be an Islamic militant. He shot himself when police tried to arrest him.
After the attack, police immediately sealed off the area.
"In light of this event, and three previous attacks in that vicinity since 2006, the embassy in Amman has advised its personnel to avoid the area for 30 days while the security situation is being reviewed," the US embassy said in a warden message on its website.
"Maintain a high level of personal security awareness at all times, particularly where people congregate, including restaurants, hotels, clubs and shopping areas."
Jawdeh, who insisted the attack had been an isolated incident and played down any suggestion of a political motive, said the Lebanese men had left the hospital and were expected to return to Lebanon later Thursday.
The Lebanese-Jordanian event at which the orchestra was playing was not part of the Festival of Jordan, which has been surrounded by controversy.
A group of 14 Jordanian trade unions called for Arab and Jordanian singers to boycott the festival, saying the French company Publicis that organised it had also worked on the celebrations for Israel's 60th anniversary earlier this year.
Both Publicis and the Jordanian government have denied the claims.
