Arab Revolutions Reach Jordan, 100 Injured

The wave of Arab revolutions across the region reached on Friday the Jordanian capital, where more than 100 people were injured as pro-reform protesters and government supporters clashed, prompting police to use water cannons to disperse them.

A security official told AFP that anti-riot police also broke up a protest camp for students and arrested several of them.

The clashes erupted after around 200 government supporters hurled large stones at more than 2,000 young demonstrators from different movements, who were holding a rally to call for reforms to the current regime and more efforts to fight corruption.

Spots of blood marked the location of the demonstration next to Amman's Interior Circle, or Gamal Abdel Nasser Square.

On Thursday night, government supporters attacked the young protesters with stones, injuring at least 30 people.

The demonstrators had complained that their gathering is peaceful, but this did not prevent the attacks. "Does the king agree with such actions? We are Jordanians and we have the right to express ourselves," said Reda Darwish, 20.

Protesters said around 50 "loyalists" attacked them with rocks after the power supply was lost, adding that police who surrounded the scene did not intervene. "We hold the interior minister responsible for this incident and we call on the king and the people to protect us from these thugs who are attacking us," said Nihad Zuhair, another protester.

The students want corrupt officials to be put on trial and security services to stop interfering in their affairs. "The revolution is happening all around us," they shouted. "Jordan, your turn is coming."

"The government and the regime should realise that time is not on their side and it is on the country's side," Said Diab, leader of the Jordanian Popular Unity Party, told AFP as the protesters called for the expulsion of Israel's ambassador to Amman.

Elsewhere, thousands gathered in Al-Hussein Gardens west of Amman to express loyalty and allegiance to the king, dancing to national songs and waving large national flags and pictures of the monarch.

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