Jordan Arrests 70 Islamists After Bloody Clashes

Jordanian security forces have arrested 70 Islamists after violent protests in which many people were hurt, most of them policemen, a security official told Agence France Presse on Saturday.

The suspects, members of the ultra-conservative Sunni Muslim Salafist movement, were rounded up during raids Friday in the town of Zarqa and nearby Rassifeh, hours after Islamist protesters attacked police, the official said.

Initially 120 people were detained but 50 of them were later let go while 70 were quizzed about their involvement in the violence in Zarqa, a northern industrial town, said the official who declined to be named.

Those found guilty would be prosecuted, he added.

A member of the Salafist movement meanwhile told AFP that 22 prominent figures of the Islamist group including its chief in Jordan, Abdul Shahatah al-Tahawi, were among those detained.

More than 90 people, most of them policemen, were hurt Friday when Islamist Salafist demonstrators armed with swords, daggers and clubs attacked police in Zarqa during protests.