A German tourist was stabbed on Friday in central Amman and hospitalised but in stable condition, Jordanian police said, as a minister ruled out terrorist motives.

"A German tourist was stabbed today in the city centre near Al-Husseini mosque and was rushed to hospital," police Major Mohammed Khatib said. "The tourist underwent surgery and is now in a stable condition."

A security source, who declined to be named, told AFP the victim, a 63-year-old whose name was being verified, had been stabbed with a knife.

A policeman patrolling the area immediately arrested the attacker, Khatib said, adding that an investigation was underway.

Interior Minister Eid Fayez later told the state-run television that the attack had "nothing to do with terrorism."

"The attacker is a crazy person who acted alone and stabbed the tourist with a knife, and this has nothing do with terrorism. Our kingdom is safe, and such things could happen in any country," Fayez said.

"I visited the German citizen and he is in a stable condition," he added without giving the name of the tourist.

Jordan is one of the most stable countries in the violence-wracked Middle East and a major Western ally which has strived to promote itself as a key tourist destination in the region.

But in September 2006, a Jordanian blacksmith opened fire on a group of Western holidaymakers, killing a British citizen and wounding five other tourists at a Roman amphitheatre near Amman's Al-Husseini mosque.

The assailant, Nabil Ahmad Issa Jaaoura, was tried and sentenced to hang on charges of carrying out a "terrorist act."

Officials said Jaaoura, a father of five, acted alone to avenge two brothers who were killed in an Israeli attack during the 1982 invasion of Lebanon.

In December 2006, a Dutch tourist was shot and slightly wounded by armed robbers in northern Jordan. Three Jordanians were later arrested in connection with the incident.