An Israeli embassy security guard shot dead a Jordanian who stabbed him with a screwdriver in the Amman mission compound in an incident in which a Jordanian bystander was also killed, Israel said on Monday, APA reports quoting Reuters.
The incident on Sunday night has tested already tense relations between Israel and Jordan, one of two Arab states with which it has peace treaties. Jordan wanted to question the guard, who was slightly hurt, but Israel said he had diplomatic immunity and should be repatriated.
Israel's foreign ministry said the security officer had acted in self-defense when he shot his attacker, a workman at the embassy compound. His father said he was a 16-year-old with no militant links.
The Jordanian bystander appeared to have been killed accidentally, an official told Reuters.
Israeli media said the guard was holed up in the fortress-like embassy along with the ambassador and other staff while Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sent an envoy to try to defuse the stand-off with the Jordanians.
Israel censored overnight media reports on the incident in what it called a move to protect the diplomats from reprisals, and its statement on Monday did not detail the aftermath. In brief remarks to reporters, Netanyahu said he had phoned the guard and "promised to bring him back".
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