AMMAN, Jan 8 (AFP) - Nearly 2,000 people, including Chechen-Jordanians, demonstrated Saturday in solidarity with Chechnya and against the Russian invasion of the Caucasian republic.
Political party leaders, former ministers and tribal chiefs attended the peaceful rally in the Amman suburb of Seuilah on the second day of Eid al-Fitr.
Abdel Latif Arabeyat, chief of the Muslim Brotherhood's Islamic Action Front Party, praised "the courage of the Chechen people" and called on Muslim countries to "go to their rescue."
Jordanians of Chechen origin "decided not to celebrate the feast in solidarity with Chechnya and to be satisfied with carrying out holiday's religious rites," community leader Fakhreddin Daghestani said.
"Only the children in the Chechen community are allowed to celebrate the feast," he said.
Jordan has officially called for a halt to the Chechen people's suffering and a peaceful solution to the conflict with Russia.
About 15,000 Jordanian-Chechens live in Jordan. Their ancestors fled 18th century Russian massacres and settled in what is now the Jordanian desert.
