Category Archives: Jordan

Some of the clashes in Amman today happened right in front of the Grand Husseini mosque. There was a crowd of about 100 or so demonstrators holding signs and calling for government reforms. As I walked by, they were chanting against the new prime minister, appointed recently by Jordan’s King Abdullah. Two or three minutes later, a group of a dozen or two guys armed with clubs, sticks and fists (one guy threw a big piece of plywood at another guy, but I didn’t see any knives or guns) charged into the demonstrators. There were a few scuffles, but the anti-government group dispersed pretty quick. The few police officers there were unarmed. They walked around calmly speaking into their cell phones. When the fight was over (it only lasted a couple of minutes, but the attackers were not playing games and I was surprised not to see more people injured), the police urged the couple of hundred pro-government demonstrators who’d gathered in front of the mosque to get out of the street. Here’s a dispatch from CNN. And here’s AP’s Dale Gavlak reporting from the scene as well.