Jordanian security forces have arrested 70 Islamists after violent protests in which nearly 100 people were injured, most of them policemen, a security official told Agence-France Presse on Saturday.
The suspects, members of the ultra-conservative Sunni Muslim Salafist movement, were detained during raids on Friday in the town of Zarqa and nearby Rassifeh, hours after Islamist protesters attacked police, the official said to AFP.
According to AFP, Prime Minister Maaruf Bakhit of Jordan accused the Islamists of belonging to an armed organization, and said his government would take a tough line against rioters.
The suspects, members of the ultra-conservative Sunni Muslim Salafist movement, were detained during raids on Friday in the town of Zarqa and nearby Rassifeh, hours after Islamist protesters attacked police, the official said to AFP.
According to AFP, Prime Minister Maaruf Bakhit of Jordan accused the Islamists of belonging to an armed organization, and said his government would take a tough line against rioters.
AFP said that initially 120 people were detained but 50 were later released. Seventy were quizzed about their involvement in the violence in Zarqa, a northern industrial town, said the official, who declined to be named.
Those found guilty would be prosecuted, he told the AFP.
On Saturday, the premier visited members of the security forces wounded in the Zarqa clashes, state news agency Petra reported.
It said Prime Minister Bakhit laid the blame on a “band of obscurantists belonging to an armed and trained organization that seeks to torpedo the democratic process.”
He warned that his government would be “firm and unhesitating in attacking the very roots of this armed group that sows sedition, in order to protect the security of the country,” according to Petra.
The news agency said that Mr. Bakhit called on the security forces to “pursue all those terrorized the people and attacked police in Zarqa, and bring them to justice.”
Police Chief Lieutenant General Hussein Majali said 83 policemen were injured in the clashes with Salafis, who are demanding freedom for detainees in the impoverished town of Zarqa, which has been a traditional fertile ground for militant Islamists.
He said teargas was used only after hundreds of the Islamic hardliners went on a rampage against residents. According to the Associated Press, demonstrations turned violent when a supporter of King Abdullah of Jordan came under attack.
General Majali said there had been a “premeditated plot” to stir unrest in the densely populated urban center on the outskirts of the Jordanian capital, Amman.
“We foiled their plot and we prevented a catastrophe by not storming their sit-in, but they were hiding weapons to use at the last minute,” he said.
General Majali said the Salafis, some of whom hid weapons in their cars, used batons, knives and sharp tools to attack police officers. Seventeen of their followers were arrested following the troubles while others were being chased, he added.
Salafi sources said at least 20 people had been arrested in a wider crackdown on their leading figures, including Sheikh Saad Huneiti and Munif Samara.
Initially, 120 people were detained but 50 of them were later released. The remaining 70 were questioned about their involvement in the violence in Zarqa, an anonymous Jordanian security official told Agence-France Press.
Jordan’s Salafis—whose push for global jihad, or holy war, has resulted in their ban in the country—have staged protests in recent weeks calling for Sharia law to be enforced in the kingdom, and for an end to curbs on their movement.
Sheikh Abdul Qader Tahawi, who witnessed the clashes, blamed the violence in Zarqa on plainclothes security officers. He said the security personnel attacked supporters after they headed to their cars at the end of the rally attended by more than 2,000 people in the Omar Bin Khatab mosque in the city.
“They want us to stop our sit-ins to demand the release of our brothers in prisons,” Sheikh Tahawi told Reuters. “Our demands are peaceful and they wanted to provoke us.”
Zarqa is the birthplace of slain “al-Qaeda in Iraq” leader, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. Salafis have no factional ties with al-Qaeda, but consult with and follow instructions from well-known al-Qaeda advocates such as Jordan’s Abu Mohammad al-Maqdisi.
(Sara Ghasemilee of Al Arabiya
Those found guilty would be prosecuted, he told the AFP.
On Saturday, the premier visited members of the security forces wounded in the Zarqa clashes, state news agency Petra reported.
It said Prime Minister Bakhit laid the blame on a “band of obscurantists belonging to an armed and trained organization that seeks to torpedo the democratic process.”
He warned that his government would be “firm and unhesitating in attacking the very roots of this armed group that sows sedition, in order to protect the security of the country,” according to Petra.
The news agency said that Mr. Bakhit called on the security forces to “pursue all those terrorized the people and attacked police in Zarqa, and bring them to justice.”
Police Chief Lieutenant General Hussein Majali said 83 policemen were injured in the clashes with Salafis, who are demanding freedom for detainees in the impoverished town of Zarqa, which has been a traditional fertile ground for militant Islamists.
He said teargas was used only after hundreds of the Islamic hardliners went on a rampage against residents. According to the Associated Press, demonstrations turned violent when a supporter of King Abdullah of Jordan came under attack.
General Majali said there had been a “premeditated plot” to stir unrest in the densely populated urban center on the outskirts of the Jordanian capital, Amman.
“We foiled their plot and we prevented a catastrophe by not storming their sit-in, but they were hiding weapons to use at the last minute,” he said.
General Majali said the Salafis, some of whom hid weapons in their cars, used batons, knives and sharp tools to attack police officers. Seventeen of their followers were arrested following the troubles while others were being chased, he added.
Salafi sources said at least 20 people had been arrested in a wider crackdown on their leading figures, including Sheikh Saad Huneiti and Munif Samara.
Initially, 120 people were detained but 50 of them were later released. The remaining 70 were questioned about their involvement in the violence in Zarqa, an anonymous Jordanian security official told Agence-France Press.
Jordan’s Salafis—whose push for global jihad, or holy war, has resulted in their ban in the country—have staged protests in recent weeks calling for Sharia law to be enforced in the kingdom, and for an end to curbs on their movement.
Sheikh Abdul Qader Tahawi, who witnessed the clashes, blamed the violence in Zarqa on plainclothes security officers. He said the security personnel attacked supporters after they headed to their cars at the end of the rally attended by more than 2,000 people in the Omar Bin Khatab mosque in the city.
“They want us to stop our sit-ins to demand the release of our brothers in prisons,” Sheikh Tahawi told Reuters. “Our demands are peaceful and they wanted to provoke us.”
Zarqa is the birthplace of slain “al-Qaeda in Iraq” leader, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. Salafis have no factional ties with al-Qaeda, but consult with and follow instructions from well-known al-Qaeda advocates such as Jordan’s Abu Mohammad al-Maqdisi.
(Sara Ghasemilee of Al Arabiya
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