AMMAN, November 11 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - A deadly Jordanian crackdown on an impoverished Islamic stronghold is intended to send a stark warning to potential dissidents as the authorities prepare to take a deeply unpopular pro-U.S. tilt against Iraq, analysts said Monday, November 11.

A curfew was imposed on the town of Maan and the army was called in after thousands of riot police failed to capture a handful of wanted militants despite the deaths of at least four people, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).

Analysts said the intensity of the security action was a clear signal from the authorities that they would brook no protest from a generally pro-Iraq population as they prepare to side with the United States in any military action against Baghdad.

Despite public statements opposing any U.S.-led strike, King Abdullah II clearly believes that his impoverished kingdom cannot afford the luxury of a repeat of its 1991 Gulf War refusal to join the U.S.-led coalition against Iraq, when it paid dearly for being seen to side with Iraq, they said, reported AFP.

"As war with Iraq looms, Jordan has every intention of backing the winner, that is to say the United States, which is going to inflame the Islamists who violently condemn U.S. policy in the region," one academic told AFP.

The Maan operation was "a preventative measure to limit the impact on internal stability of a military strike against a country which is enormously popular in Jordan," an official acknowledged.

Islamic currents form the main opposition group in parliament and although the moderate Islamic Action Front (IAF) has no connection with the hardliners of the banned Takfir wal-Hijra (Atonement and Flight) group being hunted down in Maan, the movement could clearly see the writing on the wall.

Both the IAF and the Muslim Brotherhood, demanded that the security forces "end the siege" of the town, describing the casualty toll as "deplorable" and a symptom of the government's "martial mentality".

However, analysts say it is not just the Islamists who are targeted by the government's warning shots, but also groups which take a pan-Arabic or internationalist stance in a country where Palestinian refugees make up a significant proportion of the population.

One of the poorest towns in Jordan, Maan threatened to create a "dangerous alliance" between Islamists and Arab nationalists which the authorities were determined to stop, another analyst told AFP.

"The message is clear - the state will no longer tolerate troublemakers and is determined to impose its authority over the whole country."

Jordanian officials from King Abdullah II down have been hammering home the message for weeks, warning that they will no longer tolerate the pro-Iraq or pro-Palestinian sympathies of either Islamists or pan-Arabists taking precedence over the interests of the kingdom.

In an interview with the Saudi-based television statement MBC on October 11, the king criticized what he called the "unacceptable" foreign ties of most of Jordan's historic political parties, including the communist and Baath parties as well as the IAF.

"The presence in Jordan of parties with non-Jordanian references or that receive orders or financing from abroad is unacceptable," he said.