A British man was killed today when a lone gunman shouting “Allahu Akbar!” (”God is Great”) started firing at a group of Western tourists in the Jordanian capital Amman.

Five other tourists - two British women, one Australian woman, one New Zealand woman and a Dutch man - were injured in the attack as well as a Jordanian policeman.

The dead Briton was named by Jordanian officials tonight as Christopher Stokes, 30. His family in the UK are said to be “devastated” at the news and his mother had to be sedated.

The gunman, in his 30s and named by officials as Nabeel Ahmed Issa Jaourah, was a Jordanian from the town of Zarqa, the birthplace of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the slain former al-Qaeda frontman. [More]

I think it’s silly to think that anyone is behind this, other than the the lunatic who pulled his pistol and opened fire at tourists.

That man could easily be just another stupid Jordanian who went out of his mind, thinking that he’s about to do a heroic act worthy of a world news headline.

What I don’t understand though is the usual uncertainity on the Jordanian government’s side, first its an Iraqi man, then they are two men not one, but after that an official says that his name is Nabil Jaora, holder of a Jordanian passport. I understand that similar matters need serious investigations and such but I don’t see the number of gunmen involved or their nationalities to be things that need to be invistigated for hours, and if that was right, then don’t reveal his nationality unless you’re %100 sure. If you are not good enough to know where did that man come from in more more than 10 hours, it’s okay, we can all wait.

I noticed that every crazy person who decides to kill non-Arabs, for some reason MUST be related in a way or another to the terrorist organization of Al-Qaida or lives in Zarqa, the hometown of Abu Musaab Al- Zarqawi. It’s just too silly really.

It makes perfect sense to anyone who has been to the different parts of Jordan and talked to people about terrorism, the US policy in the ME and last year’s explosions in Amman, that many people, could do such a thing provided that they are poor, have nothing to lose and are in need of psychological therapy.

I do see how relating this to terrorism and Al-Qaida will help in one way only, justify asking for more money to fight terrorism. That’s the only good thing about it being a “terrorist attack”.