AMMAN,
November 24 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - At least two people were
killed and seven others wounded, including a policeman, as fresh clashes
erupted Sunday, November 24, in the southern Jordanian town of Maan
which had been shaken by fighting between Islamic residents and the army
earlier this month, according to witnesses.
The
men were shot when a gunfight broke out following a quarrel between
residents and police stationed outside the mayor's offices, witnesses
told Agence France-Presse (AFP).
The
number of casualties was unclear, with some witnesses claiming two men
had been shot dead, while others said only one was killed. Some
witnesses put the number of wounded at eight and others said seven.
"One
of the injured is in a critical case but has not died," a Maan
resident said.
The
army immediately imposed a curfew on the flashpoint town as the security
situation remained confused and police deployed reinforcements in the
town, 215 kilometers (135 miles) south of Amman, the witnesses said.
Six
people were killed, including a soldier and a policeman, in clashes
between security forces and gunmen earlier this month in Maan as the
authorities launched a crackdown on a gang of armed bandits.
Around
130 people were arrested in the crackdown, eight of them foreigners.
However,
the alleged ringleader Mohammad Shalabi, alias Abu Sayyaf, who belongs
to an Islamic group still remains at large.
His
main accomplices, including the alleged arms and drug trafficker Khamis
Abu Darwish and his brothers Asri and Ahmad, are behind bars and were
formally charged Thursday of "terrorist" activities by the
state prosecutor.
Anger
and defiance gripped the Islamic stronghold of Maan Friday, November 15,
even though authorities eased a five-day clampdown and lifted a curfew
on the southern Jordanian city after rounding up dozens of wanted
"outlaws".
Foreign
media representatives, including AFP, met with Maan's governor and the
police chief Friday on a tour organized by the Information Ministry, but
a visit to one of the town's hot spots was scrapped at the last moment.
"It
is for your own safety. You saw what happened on Palestine street,"
an Interior Ministry official told the journalists.
An
angry mob of residents swarmed around the bus, banging on it and
demanding journalists report the truth and take pictures of "our
homes which they burned and our shops which they destroyed."
"The
people must be allowed to speak their mind and you should let the
journalists listen and tour the city freely," a young man shouted
over and over at the officials escorting the reporters.
According
to analysts, the deadly Jordanian crackdown on the 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 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.
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Jordanian
troops surround Maan
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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.
Analysts
said the aim was to get rid of parties with such
"non-Jordanian" parties and replace them by a "loyal
opposition" which would cooperate in the "responsible"
and "constructive" development of the country
