Jordan isolates dissident town

Jordanian authorities yesterday imposed a clampdown on reports of violence from the southern town of Maan amid fears that the Hashemite kingdom could become the first casualty of a possible war with Iraq.

Army units and riot police rounded up suspects after four people, including a police sergeant, died and two dozen were injured in Sunday's clashes in Maan, a poor town of about 70,000 and a tradition of Islamist and pro-Iraqi militancy.

Telephone lines to Maan were disconnected and nobody - including the media - was allowed in or out. It was reported that a total curfew had been imposed, with shops, schools and offices closed.

The government version is that 15 Jordanians and 10 foreigners - believed to be Iraqis and Egyptians and described as a gang of outlaws - have been arrested, accused of arms and drug smuggling, killings, assaults and robberies as well as challenging the government and burning female students' dormitories and cars belonging to university professors.

"This has nothing to do with politics," said the government spokesman Mohammed Adwan. Few believe him.

A security official, speaking to the Associated Press, said the operation in Maan was part of a campaign to "put things in order before the possible war on Iraq".

There is strong public sympathy for Iraq in Jordan, as well as for the Palestinians.

The main focus of the Maan operation is believed to be a banned Islamist group, Takfir wal Hijra ("penance and exodus"), whose alleged leader, Mohammed Ahmad al-Chalabi, was still at large yesterday.

According to Jordanian police, he was being protected by members of his Bedouin tribe armed with assault rifles.

Mr Chalabi has been wanted by the authorities following riots in Maan at the beginning of the year, sparked by the controversial killing of a student in police custody.

The latest trouble follows the killing of a US development worker, Laurence Foley, in Amman last month.