An Israeli businessman was found shot dead in his villa in the Jordanian capital Amman today, an Israeli diplomat and Jordanian security sources said.
Israeli embassy spokesman Mr Roey Gilad said the body was found at the man's house in the Seventh Circle area of Amman at 11.00 a.m. (9 a.m. Irish time).
"He was shot dead last night and the body was found this morning," Mr Gilad said. "It was a fatal injury but the background is not clear yet; it might be criminal or related to the political situation".
Security sources said the middle-aged man was a diamond dealer who often spent long periods in Amman, where he had the villa.
In Beirut, Hizbollah's al-Manar television station cut into its programmes to broadcast a statement it received from the so-called Nobles of Jordan claiming responsibility for the killing.
"To our Arabic and Islamic nation: One of our units of the Nobles of Jordan carried out the killing on Monday evening of a Zionist Mossad agent who works in the suburbs of Amman under the cover of a businessman," the statement said.
Two Israeli diplomats were slightly injured in two shooting incidents in Amman late last year, forcing Israel to cut the number of diplomats at its embassy and evacuate their families.
Jordan, which signed a peace agreement with Israel in 1994, houses 1.6 million Palestinian refugees. A majority of the country's five million population are of Palestinian origin.