AMMAN, Oct 28: A US diplomat was gunned down here on Monday as pressure mounts in the region amid rising anti-US sentiment and Washington’s threats to attack Baghdad.

The victim, Lawrence Foley, was an executive officer with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). He held diplomatic status and had been living in Jordan with his wife for the past two years.

He was killed by eight bullets as he left his home to go to his office.

“He was probably chosen as a target because of his vulnerability. He had no police protection unlike full-fledged US embassy diplomats,” a Jordanian political analyst said.

He added the murder was “a direct attack against Jordan, the image it portrays of a safe country as well as its relations with the United States, a key political and economic ally”.

“Now we must see who profits from this crime,” said the analyst.

Pro-Iraqi agents or members of the Al-Qaeda network could have organized such an attack, the analyst said.—AFP