A British tourist was killed and at least six others were wounded in Amman on Monday when two gunmen opened fire at a group of foreign travelers in the Jordanian capital, a Jordanian security source said.

Government spokesman Nasser Joudeh said the wounded were two Britons, a Dutch national, a New Zealander, an Australian and their Jordanian tour guide.

Interior Minister Eid al-Fayez identified the gunman as Nabil Ahmad, a Jordanian in his late thirties and a resident of the industrial town of Zarqa, on the eastern outskirts of the capital, saying initial leads suggested he acted on his own.

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No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack.

"We will ascertain in the next period whether this was a sole act or whether this individual is a member of a terrorist cell," Prime Minister Marouf al-Bakheet told reporters after a visit to the hospital where the wounded were being treated.

Police cordoned off the site of the attack near the Roman amphitheatre in the downtown area of the capital where thousands of Jordanians go for work and entertainment.

Several witnesses said they saw a young man shooting at a group of Western tourists walking near the popular site.

"I was walking when I saw someone pull out a pistol from his pocket and start shouting Allahu Akbar (God is Great) and fire repeatedly," said Mohammad Jawad Ali, an Iraqi who witnessed the shooting.

Witnesses said the gunman shot at least 12 bullets before he finished his ammunition and was chased in the crowded downtown area before he was arrested.

Earlier, Fayez told reporters that the incident was an act designed to undermine the security of the kingdom.

"There is no doubt that this is a terrorist act that targets the security of Jordan because it fights terror. This will not dissuade us from continuing the battle against terror," he said.

A spokesperson for the British embassy in Jordan confirmed one British national had been killed and two others injured.

The Foreign Office did not change its travel advisory to Jordan beyond past advice to travellers to take personal security precautions in view of "a high threat from terrorism in Jordan."

The shooting spree is the first bloody incident to hit the pro-Western kingdom since triple suicide bombings against luxury hotels claimed by al Qaeda last November which killed scores.

Security sources say they have been worried since Israel's war with Hizbollah led to a surge in anti-Western sentiment among inhabitants of the country.

Jordan enjoys the warmest ties with Israel among its Arab neighbours and has close security cooperation since a peace treaty in 1994.