"Police tried to get my son Sayyaf as he went out to the market to get goods. Maan residents in the street surrounded them and clashes broke out but they managed to free him," Salwa, Abu Sayyaf's wife told Reuters by telephone from her home in the center of Maan. The Petra news agency blamed the troubles on an unidentified group that fired at police patrols in the city. It reported that one attacker was killed and three, including one policeman, were injured," in the exchange of fire that broke out after the traditional Iftaar meal ending each day of fasting during the Muslim month of Ramadan. But witnesses said two were killed and several wounded.
Abu Sayyaf's wife said police cordoned off the whole area, including her home, after the clashes. She said her son was safe under the protection of tribal elders. This was the first serious outbreak of violence since wide-scale fighting broke out nearly two weeks ago between special anti-riot police and Muslim militants in the tribal city, located some 250 km (160 miles) South of the capital Amman. At least seven people have died in the violence, which began after counter-terrorism forces launched a hunt for Islamist militants allegedly involved in the murder of a US diplomat in Amman in October. The sweep has so far netted over 100 Islamists and outlaws, but the alleged ring leader, Abu Sayyaf, who sympathizes with Saudi-born militant Osama bin Laden, fled the scene of heavy clashes and has been in hiding since.
Maan, a city of 40,000, has been under tight security and anti-riot police vehicles are positioned in key locations and installations to impose law and order. Officials deny that the crackdown is directed against militant Islam, claiming that a gang of drug traffickers and arms smugglers ran amok in the city, some operating under the cloak of religion. Bin Laden, blamed by Washington for last year's September 11th attacks on the United States, has a cult following in Maan. Decades of neglect by a central Government seen as favoring other regions is helping Islamists find fertile ground in Maan. The desert city is historically volatile. It witnessed bouts of civil unrest during the past decade over fuel price hikes and pro-Iraq protests. Crosscurrents of crime, smuggling and tribal disaffection now combine with an explosive brand of militant Islam.
For Jordan, a possible US war on Iraq poses domestic risks as King Abdullah has shifted from support of Iraq to tacit backing of US war goals. Many Jordanians resent US policies, which they view as applying one set of standards to Iraq and another to Israel.
