Issue No. 613
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21 - 27 November 2002 Issue No. 613 Region |
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 | |||
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Danger signs
Clashes between the police and armed groups in the Jordanian city of Ma'an are setting off alarm bells ahead of a possible war on Iraq. Al-Ahram Weekly's correspondent in Amman reports
Calm has been restored to the southern Jordanian town of Ma'an after a week-long security crackdown against what the government described as a criminal gang engaged in drug and weapon smuggling that was openly challenging law and order.
Click to view captionJordanian security forces swept Ma'an for outlaws Clashes in Ma'an between police and masked armed youths began on 10 November when security forces stormed the city in what appeared to observers to be an attempt to find militants suspected of killing a US diplomat two weeks earlier.
Some 50 suspects -- including one Indian, seven Iraqis and three Egyptians -- remained in police custody on charges of helping the gang. 20 others held on minor charges, such as violating the curfew, were released last week.
However, five key suspects, including alleged Islamist Mohamed Shalabi, alias Abu-Sayyaf, remained at large. Official and non-official sources put the death toll of the clashes at between six and 10 persons.
While the government described the operation as a strictly law-and-order-related move, it was widely seen as a preemptive action ahead of a possible US-led war on Iraq that would have the potential to spark upheaval among Jordan's largely pro-Iraq population.
Officials have hinted that similar operations might be launched in other parts of the kingdom. Police have already initiated a campaign to take possession of weapons from Ma'an residents, and citizens have begun surrendering weapons, including hunting rifles, to the local police station following the state's cancellation of all licences in an effort to make the city a weapons- free town.
The government offered compensation of between $70 and $210 depending on the weapon surrendered, officials said. In an effort to demonstrate that things had returned to normal in Ma'an, the ministers of interior, health, education, social development and local government visited the city on Sunday.
Differences between the government and the opposition were highlighted by the events in Ma'an when a forum made up of political parties led by Jordan's Muslim Brotherhood offered to mediate a stand-off that took place there last week.
Forum participants prepared a letter directed to Jordan's King Abdullah, offering to "put themselves and all their capabilities" at the monarch's disposal "in order to contribute to resolving the problem and avert bloodshed".
The government rejected the offer, however, saying the situation in Ma'an was a matter of national security, requiring only that the state enforced the law. "The Ma'an issue is not a case of two parties struggling for power. This is an issue of the government enforcing the law on a group of outlaws and criminals. It is a security matter," said government spokesman Mohamed Adwan.
After the government rejected the mediation effort, the political grouping assailed its handling of the crisis. "The manner in which the government handled the situation in Ma'an was totally different from customary measures. Measures taken in many cases violated the law and the constitution," the statement said. It also called on the government to lift the city's curfew and redeploy troops stationed there since last week.
The forum, which brings together heads of political parties, political figures, professional association activists and tribal leaders, said it was considering boycotting the local Al-Rai newspaper because of what it characterised as its unobjective coverage of the Ma'an events and for attacking political figures.
The operation in the southern city was the first of its kind since King Abdullah succeeded his late father King Hussein in 1999. Jordan has said it opposes war against Iraq and has repeatedly called on Baghdad to heed the demands of the United Nations Security Council and preempt US-led military action.
It has also said that it would not be a base for any anti-Iraq military action in the event of a war. However, observers believe that the kingdom would find it hard to turn down any American request for use of Jordanian facilities in the war. The kingdom is heavily dependent on the US for economic, military and political support in the region, particularly after it signed a peace treaty with Israel in 1994.
There is growing popular anger in Jordan over Israel's brutal military crackdown against the Palestinians and Amman's refusal to heed opposition demands to sever diplomatic relations with Israel. That resentment has been fuelled by the detention of three anti-normalisation activists from the powerful professional associations and government labelling the "anti normalisation" committee of the association as illegal.
Any Jordanian acquiescence with a US war on Iraq, observers argue, could trigger a popular backlash that security forces would find difficult to contain.
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