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| Middle East |
| Jordanians stage anti-war rally |
| 2003-02-02 |
| Thousands of Jordanians have demonstrated against a possible American and British war on Iraq, warning that it would provoke fury across the Arab world. The crowd of about 3,000 people shouting "Down, down USA" marched towards the United Nations office in the capital, Amman, which was ringed by riot police. Eeeek! The vaunted Arab Street! Pass me my smelling salts! The protest - organised by Jordanian opposition groups - was the first to be sanctioned by the Jordanian authorities in months. Right there is the measure of the control King Abdullah thinks he has on the domestic situation. It underlined the difficult position they are now in - caught between Jordan's strategic alliance with the US and public opinion that's strongly anti-American and against war. One Jordanian official said the government was walking a tightrope. Abdullah seems to be doing a good job so far. Jordan has publicly ruled out any role in an American attack, but the official said it had agreed to allow search-and-rescue missions from its territory, including the activities of special forces. Our special forces will search for WMD, Scud sites and other targets of interest, and in doing so will rescue the Iraqi people. Got it. It was an unusual mix of Jordanians that assembled outside the UN office. No, it was the usual mix. Many of the demonstrators were Islamists carrying green banners and chanting slogans in favour of the Palestinian militant group Hamas. But there were also leftists with Che Guevara flags and young professional women, all opposed to American policy in the Middle East. What'd I just say? "We are against the war. This is why we are here," one of the demonstrators said. Her words were echoed by another participant, who said people took to the streets "for the Iraqi people". "We don't want them to suffer from what will happen," he added. The suffering stops just as soon as Sammy vacates the premises. Another woman said she worried an attack on Iraq would hurt Arab moderates like herself, as well as the West, because it would increase One group of protesters urged Iraq to use chemical weapons. There's a group of protesters for whom names, addresses and URLs should be collected. Others called on Iraqi President Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden to hit Tel Aviv, and described America as the head of a snake. It's the very fact that Abdullah won't even consider hitting Tel Aviv that makes Jordan a viable state today. |
| Posted by:Steve White |
| #2 "They're everywhere! They're everywhere!" |
| Posted by: Fred 2003-02-02 11:41:16 |
| #1 Many of the demonstrators were Islamists carrying green banners and chanting slogans in favour of the Palestinian militant group Hamas. But there were also leftists with Che Guevara flags and young professional women, all opposed to American policy in the Middle East.
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| Posted by: Hermetic 2003-02-02 11:31:59 |