The king was said to be unharmed but it is understood his driver was wounded in the attack, which took place in the town of Sweileh, 12 miles (19km) northeast of the capital, Amman.

One report said the king jumped out of his car and fired back at the attackers.

The shooting follows two days of fighting between Palestinian guerrillas and Jordanian troops in and around Amman in which up to 400 people are said to have been killed.

Stray bullet

The city is surrounded by Jordanian troops with Palestinian gunmen controlling the city centre and main routes.

Fighting has also spread to the airport and passengers flying out of Amman today have told of a porter killed when he was hit by a bullet as they got onto their plane.

Earlier Amman Radio denied reports the army commander-in-chief, Major-General Nasser Ben Jamil, the king's uncle, had been killed in the violence.

Palestinian guerrillas blame the Jordanian army for the latest flare-up in fighting, saying it is a direct result of the heavy shelling of Palestinian refugee camps.

Following the 1967 war with Israel, Jordan lost the West Bank of the Jordan River. Thousands of Palestinian refugees fled into Jordan, swelling the refugee population to two million.

From their new base in Jordan, Yasser Arafat and his Palestine Liberation Organisation began launching military operations against Israel, drawing bloody reprisals that killed and injured Jordanians.

Feelings of anger among Palestinians have been exacerbated by King Hussein's involvement in Middle East peace moves which have involved talks with Israel.

The leader of Al Fatah, the largest of the Palestinian guerrilla groups, has said any Arab Head of State trying to reach a peaceful settlement with Israel will be murdered.

King Hussein has survived an attempt on his life before. When his grandfather King Abdullah was assassinated in 1951, he was hit by a stray bullet in the same attack.

Last October the government revealed details of a plot to overthrow King Hussein. Two months later 14 members of the Islamic Liberation Party were sentenced to death.

A second plot to topple the king was uncovered in March and there have been recent rumours of another US-backed plot to replace the king with his brother Crown Prince Hassan.

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