A senior Iraqi diplomat, his wife and six other people have been murdered by unidentified attackers in the Jordanian capital Amman. Another woman is said to be seriously ill in hospital after the attack, which took place last night. Iraq had condemned the murders as a cowardly act. BBC correspondent, Mark Devenport reports:

Hikmat al-Hajou and his wife were visiting the home of a wealthy Iraqi businessman for an evening meal when the attackers struck. Some reports say the gang had guns, but it appears the eight victims were all stabbed to death.

According to Jordanian radio, one woman survived the attack and is being treated in hospital for serious stab wounds. She is said to have told the police that four or five people were responsible for the murders and that they spoke with an Iraqi accent.

Hikmat al-Hajou was the second-most senior diplomat in the Iraqi embassy in Amman and he was known to have had strong links with the Iraqi intelligence service. However the identity of his murderers is still unclear.

Amman is the base for many Iraqi dissidents strongly opposed to the regime of Saddam Hussein, but relations between Iraq and Jordan were also damaged last month when Baghdad executed four Jordanian students accused of smuggling. Earlier this month the Iraqi commercial attache in Amman escaped injury when he was fired at from a passing car.

Iraq has condemned last night's murders as a cowardly and treacherous crime. It is sending a senior foreign ministry official to Amman to monitor the investigation by the Jordanian authorities.