Hundreds protest in Jordanian capital
About 1,000 protesters, including Islamists, leftists and youth groups, call for political reform and end to corruption.
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| The Muslim Brotherhood said it awaited reforms that ‘would bring power back to the people’ [AFP] |
More than 1,000 Jordanians have marched in the capital in a protest called by opposition groups pushing for political reform and an end to corruption.
The march began outside the Al-Husseini mosque in central Amman after the Muslim weekly prayer on Friday and moved towards the city hall about one kilometre away.
Banners held up by Islamists, leftists and youth groups said “the people want to reform the regime”, “the people want an elected government”, and “we want a fair electoral system”.
Many also chanted slogans in support of what they called the Syrian revolution, and demanded that the Syrian President Bashar al-Assad stop the massacre his people.
“We condemn this massacre against the Syrian people and we ask the Syrian leader to stop the killing, otherwise we demand an Arab intervention to protect the Syrian people,” said Jamil Abu Bakr, spokesman for the Muslim Brotherhood in Jordan.
In a statement distributed before the march, organisers from the Brotherhood and its political arm, the Islamic Action Front, said the movement still awaited reforms that “would bring power back to the people”.
“We ask for a serious fight against corruption, the corrupt to be tried, and a boosting of regulatory institutions,” it said.
Since this year’s uprisings that have swept the region, Jordan has been jostled by its own protest movement fuelled by calls for political reform and the end of widespread corruption.