by Suleiman Al-Khalidi
AMMAN (Reuters) – Several sit-ins were organized in Jordan on Friday to protest against rising fuel prices in the wake of the death of a police officer during a violent demonstration in the south of the country, report witnesses and services of security.
According to the authorities, the policeman was shot and killed Thursday evening by an unidentified individual while the police intervened against rioters in a district of the city of Maan.
Riot police also clashed with groups of stone-throwing protesters overnight in Amman, Zarka, Irbid and other towns.
Public buildings were vandalized and tires burned, leading to the cutting of roads, Jordanian Interior Minister Mazen Farrayeh told a press conference.
“We have observed a strong upsurge in acts of violence. Stricter security measures will be taken to reinforce the security forces in the neighborhoods which have been the scene of such acts,” he warned.
Maan and other towns in the south of the country are particularly affected by a strike by truckers against rising fuel prices.
Calm returned on Friday, but protest sit-ins were staged outside the Maan mosque and a mosque in Amman, and activists called for further demonstrations.
The government has promised to examine the claims of truck drivers while stressing that it has already spent more than 500 million dinars (more than 650 million euros) to cap fuel prices this year and cannot do much more under penalty of to breach an agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
(French version Jean-Stéphane Brosse)
click here for restrictions
©2022 Reuters