Four Jordan Policemen Wounded in Clashes with Protesters

Four Jordanian police officers were wounded Saturday night when they clashed with supporters of a lawmaker suspended from parliament for railing against chronic power cuts, the security service said.

"Four policemen were wounded and hospitalised when they intervened... to put an end to riots, the firing of shots into the air and the burning of cars," said Amer al-Satrawi, the public security service's spokesman.  

They were wounded by stones, but their lives were not in danger, Satrawi said in a statement, adding that the clashes took place in Naour, a suburb in the capital's south.

Witnesses said the protesters were supporters of lawmaker Oussama al-Ajarma.

Ajarma had demanded a debate on electricity cuts that hit Amman and other districts on May 21, accusing the government of deliberately cutting power to forestall a protest march by Jordanian tribes in support of the Palestinian cause.

But his request was turned down by the speaker and the lawmaker was suspended from parliament on May 27, before he resigned in protest on Wednesday.

Authorities said that the power failure was due to a fault on a high tension line running between Egypt and Jordan.

Jordan has experienced several episodes of unrest in recent months, including scattered protests against a curfew and economic hardship  triggered by the coronavirus pandemic.

In early April, the country was rocked by an alleged plot to "destabilise" the kingdom that implicated Prince Hamzah, who is King Abdullah's half-brother and a former crown prince.  

Authorities said Hamzah's case was resolved within the royal family, but two former officials linked to Saudi Arabia are to stand trial over that affair, state media said on Wednesday.