AMMAN, Jordan - - A U.N. investigator probing allegations of torture in Jordan said Thursday he found evidence of systematic abuse in at least two detention centers there.

But the U.N. Special Rapporteur on Torture, Manfred Nowak, told reporters that he believed torture was not a widespread phenomenon in the kingdom.

''Torture is not a systematic policy in the Kingdom of Jordan,'' said Nowak, revealing preliminary findings at the end of a five-day visit. ''The government is not practicing, authorizing, or condoning torture systematically,'' he said.

But Nowak told The Associated Press that there were ''notorious places'' - including two Amman detention facilities run by Jordanian police and intelligence services - where he cited ''enough evidence to conclude that ... torture is practiced systematically.'' At one police facility, Nowak said he and his team, including a forensic doctor, found evidence ''on the spot, of an individual who just the night before was seriously tortured for one and a half hours in the 'stress' position - handcuffed ... suspended (in the air) and subjected to beatings.'' ''He almost couldn't walk,'' he said.

Nowak recommended that Jordan make torture illegal, abolish special courts and introduce measures to prevent abuse in state facilities - such as better medical documentation and access to lawyers and doctors.

Jordanian officials would study Nowak's preliminary report and undertake reforms if necessary, government spokesman Nasser Judeh said.

''We are trying to be transparent, and are taking the report seriously. We need to see what areas require change,'' he said.

Nowak called for the specific closure of al-Jafr Penitentiary in southern Jordan, where he said there were ''systematic beatings and corporeal punishment of inmates.'' He visited four Islamist lawmakers incarcerated there and reported that they had experienced no ill treatment. The four were charged with ''inciting sectarian strife'' and ''fueling national discord'' after visiting the family of the late al-Qaida in Iraq leader, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.

Suicide bombers working for al-Zarqawi killed 60 civilians at three Amman hotels in November.

Nowak warned Jordan that ''effective combating of terrorism must abide by international law.'' ''To try to fight terrorism by torture is absolutely the wrong way,'' he said.

Last month, London-based Amnesty International published a scathing report on Jordan, citing police torture and forced confessions. It also accused Jordan of arresting ''scores of people for political reasons, including on suspicion of terrorism.'' Nowak called a draft anti-terror law ''very dangerous'' because it would extend the amount of time Jordan could hold a suspect before a courtappearance. ''The longer the detention time, the higher the risk of torture,'' he said.

The law, which awaits parliamentary approval this summer, has also been widely criticized for restricting freedom of expression, because it would allow authorities to detain suspects for making statements deemed a threat to national security.

Jordan is vice-chair of the 47-member U.N. Human Rights Council, and Nowak visited the kingdom at the invitation of its government.

He said he hoped to conduct a similar probe in Yemen this year, and was awaiting approval to visit Egypt, Algeria and Saudi Arabia.

UN investigator finds systematic torture in Jordan