Amman, Jordan ? Two apparent members of al-Qaida have been arrested for the murder of U.S. diplomat Laurence Foley, Jordan’s minister of information said Saturday.

Foley was shot and killed six weeks ago in front of his home in West Amman as he was getting in his car to go to work. The 60-year-old father of three had been developing water-purification and health-care projects for poor communities in Jordan.

Salem Saad bin Suweid, a Libyan, and Yasser Fatih Ibrahim, a Jordanian, have confessed to the killing, according to Mohammad Adwan, the Jordanian Minister of State for Political Affairs and Information. Adwan said the men had admitted their association with al-Qaida and with Ahmed Kalaylah, a Jordanian said to be a top aide to Osama bin Laden.

The suspects were caught with guns used in the Foley killing, Adwan said, and they admitted they also were planning to smuggle surface-to-air missiles into the country. Police said they also found ammunition and a plan for further attacks in Jordan.

Adwan said that Suweid, the Libyan, hid behind Foley’s car and shot him point-blank with a pistol equipped with a silencer. Suweid apparently had entered Jordan on a false Tunisian passport.

The FBI has been working the case along with Jordanian security agents, but Saturday’s arrests were unexpected. Just two days ago, a senior U.S. official said the Foley investigation was stuck and that agents were not even sure the murder was politically motivated.

In Washington, State Department spokesman Louis Fintor said, “We deeply appreciate the excellent support and cooperation the Jordanian government has provided throughout this investigation.”

The Foley killing was the first death of a U.S. diplomat by political violence since 1988.