Amman: Jordan has detained 136 people on
"terrorism" charges a week after scores were hurt when
Islamist Salafist protesters clashed with police in the
northern city of Zarqa, a police spokesman said on Friday.
"The involvement of 136 people brought before the
prosecutor of the State Security Court for terrorism and
unrest has been proven, and it was decided to detain them,"
spokesman Mohammad Khatib said, quoted by Petra news agency.
Khatib spoke of the "the involvement of 100 other
people on the run who will be referred to the attorney general
of state security once they are arrested."
The Salafists, who espouse an austere form of Sunni
Islam, clashed with security forces during a demonstration in
Zarqa, northeast of Amman, on April 15, leaving 91 people
wounded.
An investigation showed the demonstrators had carried
out the attack armed with "sharp weapons including swords,
axes, daggers, sticks and iron bars," said Khatib.
They "caused damage to public and private property...
caused trouble... by beating and stabbing a number of citizens
and members of security forces," he said.
The spokesman said the accused forced shops to close
and took control of the Omar Bin al-Khattab mosque in Zarqa
"causing fear and frightening the faithful."
Unlike other protests calling for reform that have
rocked Jordan in recent weeks, the Salafist demonstrators have
been demanding the release of 90 Islamist prisoners.
Among those they want freed is Abu Mohammed
al-Maqdessi, the one-time mentor of slain al Qaeda in Iraq
leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, who hailed from Zarqa.
The Salafists, who seek a return to practises common
in the early days of Islam, have been protesting for several
weeks, also staging demonstrations in the capital.
Jordanian Prime Minister Maaruf Bakhit has accused the
Islamists of belonging to an armed organisation, and said his
government would take a tough line against them.
PTI
