"Security forces arrested the Iraqi suspect while he was driving his car," a security source told Agence France-Presse on condition of anonymity, without saying where he had been arrested.

Sources earlier said 30 Egyptian, Iraqi, Syrian and Jordanian suspects were detained yesterday and some of them were released after interrogation. They gave no details.

The unnamed Iraqi was one of four suspects being sought by authorities who ordered a security clampdown following Friday's attack which was reportedly claimed by an Al Qaeda-linked group. The Abdullah Azzam Brigades was responsible for the bombings which killed at least 64 in Sharm El Sheikh in July and 34 at two other Egyptian resorts last October.

Three Katyushas, a class of Soviet-designed artillery rockets, were fired from an Aqaba warehouse, one of them missing two US warships anchored nearby but killing soldier Ahmad Najdawi and wounding another as it smashed into a warehouse. His Majesty King Abdullah telephoned the family of Najdawi, who was laid to rest yesterday, to offer condolences. Another Katyusha landed close to the airport in the adjacent Israeli resort of Eilat. The third struck a site near a military hospital.

Although the rockets missed the USS Ashland and the USS Kearsarge, the US navy decided to sail both of its ships out of Aqaba bay as a precaution.

Interior Minister Awni Yarvas told the Associated Press that security forces had found the launcher used to fire the three rockets.

Officials said additional rockets were found in the depot from where the Katyushas were fired.

"Four rockets were seized in the depot by police, which makes us think the attackers were intending to launch seven rockets," an official said. Officials were trying to determine the source of the rockets, and how they were smuggled into the country, which has tight border security. The Jordanian owner of the depot was also arrested, a second official said, adding that police had taken in dozens of Arabs of various nationalities late Friday to check their identities.

Officials said the depot was let out to a group of four Egyptians and Iraqis just a few days ago, who were being sought by police.

In a continuing search for the perpetrators, security forces surrounded two neighbourhoods in Aqaba late Saturday, witnesses told AFP, adding that police also swept the beach areas in search of explosives.

Army and police set up checkpoints and the entrances and exits of the bustling resort town, where vehicles were searched and hundreds of people were questioned, an AFP correspondent on the scene said.

A total of 12 roadblocks were on the 350-kilometre road between Aqaba and Amman, while checkpoints also appeared in the capital.

The peak of the tourist season in Aqaba appeared to be unaffected on Saturday, with the airport staying open and hotels insisting that none of their clients had cancelled or left early.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, meanwhile, condemned the terrorist attack in a telephone call with Prime Minister Adnan Badran.

Also on Saturday, Badran held talks on the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza with his Palestinian counterpart Ahmed Qureia, who condemned the attack.