AMMAN, JORDAN (MARCH 13, 2011) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL)
1. VARIOUS OF DEMONSTRATORS NEAR PRIME MINISTRY BUILDING
2. DEMONSTRATORS HOLDING BANNERS
3. YOUNG BOYS HOLDING BANNERS CALLING FOR RELEASE OF PRISONERS
4. BANNER WRITTEN IN ARABIC, READING: "WE CALL FOR THE RELEASE OF PRISONERS"
5. PROTESTERS
6. BOY HOLDING BANNER READING: "RELEASE SHEIKH ABU MOHAMMAD AL-MAQDISI"
7. MAN ADDRESSING CROWD
8. PEOPLE LISTENING
9. (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) RELATIVE OF PRISONER, MOHAMMAD, SAYING:
"They are political prisoners and there is actually no reason for their detainment, particularly during such difficult times. If the king, Abu Hussein, releases these people, he would put an end to a crisis and it would be a great service for the Jordanian people."
10. YOUNG BOYS HOLDING BANNERS
11. (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) FATHER OF TWO POLITICAL PRISONERS, MOHAMMAD HIJAZI, SAYING:
"The government promotes itself as a moderate state with the enemy, the zionist entity, therefore I call on them to use a moderate approach with the prisoners, the ones they refer to as Islamist group prisoners. The killer zionists are not better than my sons and the sons of other Islamist prisoners. I demand the government release them immediately."
12. WOMEN HOLDING BANNERS DURING PROTEST
13. WOMAN HOLDING GIRL DURING PROTEST
14. WOMAN HOLDING BANNER WRITTEN IN ARABIC, READING: "UNTIL WHEN WILL ABU SAYAF AND THE PEOPLE OF MA'AN REMAIN IN PRISON?"
15. BOY HOLDING MASKS WITH ARABIC WRITING, READING: "JWEIDEH PRISON, GENERAL INTELLIGENCE DEPARTMENT PRISON"
Hundreds of family members demonstrated near the prime minster's office in the Jordanian capital, Amman, on Sunday (March 13) to demand the immediate release of their relatives arrested over alleged ties to banned Islamist groups.
Protesters came from as far as Ma'an, a town located 250 kilometres south of Amman where many political prisoners are being held on terrorism-related charges.
Protesters called on King Abdullah to use his power to grant freedom for detainees, many of whom were tried in military courts.
Hundreds of Salafis, an ultra conservative branch of Islam that strictly follows the teachings of the Prophet Mohammad, are held in prisons across Jordan after being tried in military courts on terrorism related charges.
"They are political prisoners and there is actually no reason for their detainment, particularly during such difficult times," said Mohammad, a relative of one prisoner.
"If the king, Abu Hussein, releases these people, he would put an end to a crisis and it would be a great service for the Jordanian people," Mohammad added.
Many Salafi scholars promote violence, but others have renounced it since the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States.
But some militant groups still claim Salafism as their ideology, despite an iron fisted policy by pro-western authorities in Jordan.
Observers said Jordanian authorities stepped up their anti-Salafi campaign as part of a global war against al-Qaeda and in response to U.S. pressure to quell fundamentalist Islamists.
"The government promotes itself as a moderate state with the enemy, the zionist entity, therefore I call on them to use a moderate approach with the prisoners, the ones they refer to as Islamist group prisoners," said Mohammad Hijazi, who has two sons held in a maximum security prison on terrorism related charges.
"The killer zionists are not better than my sons and the sons of other Islamist prisoners. I demand the government release them immediately," Hijazi added.
Authorities in Jordan have been accused by international human rights groups of discriminating against Islamist detainees.
1. VARIOUS OF DEMONSTRATORS NEAR PRIME MINISTRY BUILDING
2. DEMONSTRATORS HOLDING BANNERS
3. YOUNG BOYS HOLDING BANNERS CALLING FOR RELEASE OF PRISONERS
4. BANNER WRITTEN IN ARABIC, READING: "WE CALL FOR THE RELEASE OF PRISONERS"
5. PROTESTERS
6. BOY HOLDING BANNER READING: "RELEASE SHEIKH ABU MOHAMMAD AL-MAQDISI"
7. MAN ADDRESSING CROWD
8. PEOPLE LISTENING
9. (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) RELATIVE OF PRISONER, MOHAMMAD, SAYING:
"They are political prisoners and there is actually no reason for their detainment, particularly during such difficult times. If the king, Abu Hussein, releases these people, he would put an end to a crisis and it would be a great service for the Jordanian people."
10. YOUNG BOYS HOLDING BANNERS
11. (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) FATHER OF TWO POLITICAL PRISONERS, MOHAMMAD HIJAZI, SAYING:
"The government promotes itself as a moderate state with the enemy, the zionist entity, therefore I call on them to use a moderate approach with the prisoners, the ones they refer to as Islamist group prisoners. The killer zionists are not better than my sons and the sons of other Islamist prisoners. I demand the government release them immediately."
12. WOMEN HOLDING BANNERS DURING PROTEST
13. WOMAN HOLDING GIRL DURING PROTEST
14. WOMAN HOLDING BANNER WRITTEN IN ARABIC, READING: "UNTIL WHEN WILL ABU SAYAF AND THE PEOPLE OF MA'AN REMAIN IN PRISON?"
15. BOY HOLDING MASKS WITH ARABIC WRITING, READING: "JWEIDEH PRISON, GENERAL INTELLIGENCE DEPARTMENT PRISON"
Hundreds of family members demonstrated near the prime minster's office in the Jordanian capital, Amman, on Sunday (March 13) to demand the immediate release of their relatives arrested over alleged ties to banned Islamist groups.
Protesters came from as far as Ma'an, a town located 250 kilometres south of Amman where many political prisoners are being held on terrorism-related charges.
Protesters called on King Abdullah to use his power to grant freedom for detainees, many of whom were tried in military courts.
Hundreds of Salafis, an ultra conservative branch of Islam that strictly follows the teachings of the Prophet Mohammad, are held in prisons across Jordan after being tried in military courts on terrorism related charges.
"They are political prisoners and there is actually no reason for their detainment, particularly during such difficult times," said Mohammad, a relative of one prisoner.
"If the king, Abu Hussein, releases these people, he would put an end to a crisis and it would be a great service for the Jordanian people," Mohammad added.
Many Salafi scholars promote violence, but others have renounced it since the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States.
But some militant groups still claim Salafism as their ideology, despite an iron fisted policy by pro-western authorities in Jordan.
Observers said Jordanian authorities stepped up their anti-Salafi campaign as part of a global war against al-Qaeda and in response to U.S. pressure to quell fundamentalist Islamists.
"The government promotes itself as a moderate state with the enemy, the zionist entity, therefore I call on them to use a moderate approach with the prisoners, the ones they refer to as Islamist group prisoners," said Mohammad Hijazi, who has two sons held in a maximum security prison on terrorism related charges.
"The killer zionists are not better than my sons and the sons of other Islamist prisoners. I demand the government release them immediately," Hijazi added.
Authorities in Jordan have been accused by international human rights groups of discriminating against Islamist detainees.
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