War

Among them was the country\'s national security adviser, Muasher said.

The reshuffling came less than a week after suicide bombings at three Amman hotels killed 60 people, including three bombers.

The attacks placed Jordan\'s security services under increased scrutiny, but it was not clear if the firings were directly connected to the attacks.

There had been speculation for months that some members of the royal court would be dismissed, but the scope of the reshuffling was unprecedented.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Embassy in Amman said a fourth American has died as a result of last Wednesday\'s attacks on three hotels. The slain American was not identified.

The king appointed Marouf al-Bakhit, Jordan\'s ambassador to Israel, to replace outgoing security chief Saad Kheir, a former intelligence director, according to The Associated Press.

No further information was provided about the dismissals of Kheir and 10 others -- including Royal Court chief and former Prime Minister Faisal Fayez, one of the king\'s closest confidants -- and prominent religious advisers to the king, the AP reported.

Fayez, expected to be named speaker of the king-appointed senate, was replaced by Salam al-Turk, a retired army general and a former government official, the AP reported.

One senior official who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity said the selection of Turk signaled a desire to increase the influence of old-guard military leaders with a reputation for being untouched by corruption.

U.S. hopes would-be bomber useful

In Washington, U.S. intelligence officials said Jordan\'s capture of an Iraqi woman who says her suicide belt failed to detonate in the attacks may provide important intelligence on the operations of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi\'s terror group in Iraq.

\"It could potentially be very useful,\" one U.S. official said Monday.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice visited Amman on Monday, telling Jordanian television that she had met with the king and \"talked about our common struggle against terrorism.\"

The confessed would-be bomber, Saijida Mubarak Atrous al-Rishawi, is the sister of former top al-Zarqawi deputy Thamir Mubarakk Atrous al-Rishawi, who was killed by U.S. forces in Falluja, Iraq, in April 2004, according to U.S. officials.

Earlier, Muasher had said Saijida al-Rishawi was the sister of al-Zarqawi\'s \"right-hand man.\"

The U.S. officials