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SAUDI ARABIA'S FIRST ENGLISH DAILY 21 March 2003 / 18 Muharram 1424 |
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Thousands Defy Ban on Pro-Iraq
Prayers and Demonstrations in Jordan AMMAN, 22 March 2003 — A day after the Jordanian Interior Ministry
warned imams against using mosques to further any political agenda or
incite demonstrations, a violent mob gathered yesterday outside the
Kalumati Mosque near the Israeli Embassy. Around 200 riot police cordoned off the streets leading to the mosque,
which lies a few blocks away from the Israeli Embassy, forcing
mosque-goers to walk quite a distance. Despite the difficulty in getting to Kalumati, the mosque was packed
and many had no choice but to pray outside. According to Hiba and Noor Abad, two sisters who attended the prayers,
the sermon avoided directly addressing the war in Iraq. “The sermon was
short by usual standards lasting all of 15 minutes. The imam spoke about
the Prophet (peace be upon him) and his inner circle of friends and how
they lived their lives,” said Hiba. “But in the final prayer the imam did ask for divine support for the
martyrs in Iraq and in the occupied territories of Palestine” Noor
added. Prayers were over by 12.30 p.m., and that’s when the trouble started. A
group of young men in their 20s and 30s gathered and called for a quick
jihad in Iraq. The group also called for the closure of the Israeli
Embassy and the expulsion of their diplomats. “Where are the Arab armies?” the demonstrators, including many veiled
women and children, shouted as they emerged from the weekly Friday
prayer. “The United States is the head of the serpent,” they chanted. One man who insisted on identifying himself as “Muslim, the son of a
Muslim”, told reporters the United States “are criminals who created all
the problems in the Middle East”. “We are very angry,” he said, accusing the United States of launching a
war on Iraq because “they hate Islam and nothing else.” Still another demonstrator shouted: “The time to stand against
injustice is now.” It was then that security and riot police rushed in, beating the
demonstrators with batons and forcing them to disperse. Police also turned on onlookers and in one instance tried to confiscate
the camera shared by Arab News and its sister publication Asharq Al-Awsat.
Elsewhere, in the Al-Bag’a Palestinian refugee camps located 22
kilometers outside Amman, things were uncharacteristically peaceful. At the Al-Quds Mosque, the imam delivered a sermon which focused on the
Iraq crisis and the “martyrs” in Palestine but no demonstrations took
place. In the southern town of Maan, an Islamist stronghold, pro-Iraqi
demonstrators clashed yesterday with security forces who tried to disperse
them, witnesses said. “After the Friday prayers, thousands of people took to the streets to
voice their support for Iraq despite a ban on public gatherings in the
town, and clashed with the security forces,” one witness said. “The police fired tear gas grenades to disperse the protesters while
the demonstrators rained stones on them,” another witness said. A resident later said by telephone that after the initial “tension,”
police pulled back from t!he city center to the main roads leading to town
to help restore calm in Maan, which has a history of violent
anti-government protests. “Thousands of worshippers emerged from the five Maan mosques, including
the Grand Mosque, which can accommodate 3,000 people, shouting slogans of
support for Iraq and accusing Arab regimes of treachery,” the resident
said. “With our blood and our soul we will support you, Saddam,” was the
slogan on everyone’s lips, as the protesters paid tribute to Iraqi
President Saddam Hussein, the sources said. They vented their anger at Arab governments across the board, accusing
them of being “valets of the United States,” which, along with Britain,
launched military strikes on Iraq. Hundreds of people also took to the streets in the Jordanian capital
Amman and the northern city of Irbid after the weekly Friday prayers.
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