Two people were killed and scores injured in bloody rioting in the southern Jordanian city of Maan after a major security sweep to round up Muslim activists ahead of a possible war in Iraq, witnesses and officials said.
Witnesses said heavy gunfire broke out at dawn between hundreds of masked armed youths and police after the authorities stormed the city, allegedly in search of Muslim militants linked to the killer of a US diplomat who was assassinated two weeks ago.
Interior Minister Qaftan al-Majali told state television a policeman and one person from the rebel side were killed.Witnesses said scores were wounded by gunfire and rushed to hospital.
Majali accused armed outlaw groups of being behind the clashes, and said people from other Arab countries were among those arrested with ammunition and automatic weapons. The clashes intensified as forces made house to house searches for arms and detained around 30 wanted people, mostly Islamists.
Witnesses earlier said the fiercest fighting took place in the city's main central commercial Palestine Street, and near a government hospital.
One official said the authorities' crackdown on Maan was aimed at putting behind bars those who might foment unrest or carry out sabotage in the event of a US war against Iraq.
"The security operation mounted in Maan is a precautionary step to ensure the situation on the ground does not get out of hand in the event of war," he told Reuters. - (Reuters)