Jordanians Want Israel Ties Severed

(REUTERS)  Thousands of Jordanians took to the streets of Amman Tuesday to demand that ties with Israel be severed, piling pressure on the government to take firm action to protest Israeli attacks on Palestinians.

Jordanian officials say the authorities were considering expelling Ambassador David Dadon but have ruled out cutting diplomatic ties with the Jewish state, forged after the two countries signed a peace treaty in 1994.

An official said Jordan's King Abdullah would soon meet with President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt, the only other Arab state with a peace treaty with Israel. He did not say if the two leaders would coordinate joint diplomatic action against Israel.

Some 6,000 protesters, defying driving rain, marched on the Jordanian parliament in downtown Amman to vent their anger at Israel and its embassy.

"No (Israeli) embassy or ambassador. ... Get out you pig," the crowd chanted.

At least one government minister took part in the march, called by the Islamist-dominated opposition.

The crowd, waving Jordanian and Palestinian flags, carried pictures of King Abdullah, Palestinian President Yasser Arafat and Saudi-exile Osama bin Laden.

"Enough talk, we are fed up with speeches," protester Ahmad Jaradat told Reuters. "We want all ties with Israel cut and we want Arab countries to supply Palestinians with weapons."

The Jordanian government has banned demonstrations in Amman, but rising anger among Jordanians and Palestinian refugees forced it to authorize several protests in recent days.

More than 1,000 students at Jordan University clashed with riot police Monday when they tried to take to the streets after a pro-Palestinian rally.

Most Jordanians are of Palestinian origin, and the authorities are at pains to prevent violence spilling over from the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Jordanian Foreign Minister Marwan al-Muasher summoned Dadon Sunday and warned him of unspecified consequences if Israeli troops did not immediately withdraw from Palestinian territories and end their siege of Arafat's headquarters in Ramallah.

Diplomats say Jordan has been weighing several options since Israel began besieging Arafat last week, including reducing the Israeli embassy staff and downgrading its own embassy in Tel Aviv.

Jordanian security forces have been put on a high state of alert and have tightened security around several Palestinian refugee camps and at crossing points into Israel, officials said.

In the West Bank, Israeli troops forced their way into the office of Jordan's commercial representative to the Palestinian Authority Tuesday and damaged property inside, the Jordanian envoy in Gaza said.

"The office has a sign that says clearly it was a representative office of the Kingdom of Jordan. We condemn and denounce the Israeli assault on the office," Ambassador Goma'a al-Abadi told Reuters.