Jordan arrests Islamists over fuel hike protests
AMMAN, April 9 (Reuters) - Police arrested more than 100 Islamist activists for distributing posters calling for a strike on Sunday against a rise in fuel prices, the head of an Islamist group said on Sunday.
Government sources denied the accusations of the head of the Islamic Action Front, Zaki Bani Irsheid who said activists had been arrested and harassed for putting up posters and distributing leaflets for a strike which took place over three hours on Sunday.
"Some people who were putting up flyers and banners in violation of certain laws were questioned but they were then immediately released," a government source said. "At this stage there is not a single person who is detained."
The protesters are angry that the government, which depends on energy imports for most of its needs, endorsed a 12 to 65 percent price rise on a range of petroleum products at a cabinet meeting late on Saturday, effective from midnight.
Kerosene and diesel, both widely used for heating by Jordan's poor, rose by 43 percent.
Opposition parties say the fuel price rises hit the country's poor the hardest and has added to growing frustration by many Jordanians at the large income gap between a rich elite and a majority of impoverished people.
"The government will not tolerate any protests against the price rises ... citizens should at least have the right to express their opinion," Bani Irsheid, whose IAF is the country's largest opposition party, told Reuters.
Bani Irsheid said tens of thousands of people across the country had responded to the IAF's call to stage a symbolic three hour work stoppage and many shops locked their shutters across the country to protest at the government move.
"We have had a very good response...in some areas shops that closed exceeded ninety percent," the Islamist leader said, citing the poorer districts of the capital, Palestinian refugee camps across the country and impoverished towns in outlying Bedouin areas such as the restive southern city of Maan, where the Islamists have traditionally drawn strong support.
Analysts said the price rise was a risky decision for a country with a restive population, high unemployment and a history of civil unrest in the wake of fuel price rises.
More than 14 percent of Jordanians live in absolute poverty, according to official statistics.
The price rise is the third in less than a year, and by far the steepest in more than a decade. It edges closer to fully liberalising energy prices after years of hefty subsidies.
"This is a strategic move to end a large subsidy ... I know the decision is painful and the poor will suffer but we are concerned about helping them to cushion the impact," Prime Minister Marouf Bakheet told reporters.
The government has said it will give 62 million dinars ($87 million) to help people on low incomes with the higher prices.
Government sources denied the accusations of the head of the Islamic Action Front, Zaki Bani Irsheid who said activists had been arrested and harassed for putting up posters and distributing leaflets for a strike which took place over three hours on Sunday.
"Some people who were putting up flyers and banners in violation of certain laws were questioned but they were then immediately released," a government source said. "At this stage there is not a single person who is detained."
The protesters are angry that the government, which depends on energy imports for most of its needs, endorsed a 12 to 65 percent price rise on a range of petroleum products at a cabinet meeting late on Saturday, effective from midnight.
Kerosene and diesel, both widely used for heating by Jordan's poor, rose by 43 percent.
Opposition parties say the fuel price rises hit the country's poor the hardest and has added to growing frustration by many Jordanians at the large income gap between a rich elite and a majority of impoverished people.
"The government will not tolerate any protests against the price rises ... citizens should at least have the right to express their opinion," Bani Irsheid, whose IAF is the country's largest opposition party, told Reuters.
Bani Irsheid said tens of thousands of people across the country had responded to the IAF's call to stage a symbolic three hour work stoppage and many shops locked their shutters across the country to protest at the government move.
"We have had a very good response...in some areas shops that closed exceeded ninety percent," the Islamist leader said, citing the poorer districts of the capital, Palestinian refugee camps across the country and impoverished towns in outlying Bedouin areas such as the restive southern city of Maan, where the Islamists have traditionally drawn strong support.
Analysts said the price rise was a risky decision for a country with a restive population, high unemployment and a history of civil unrest in the wake of fuel price rises.
More than 14 percent of Jordanians live in absolute poverty, according to official statistics.
The price rise is the third in less than a year, and by far the steepest in more than a decade. It edges closer to fully liberalising energy prices after years of hefty subsidies.
"This is a strategic move to end a large subsidy ... I know the decision is painful and the poor will suffer but we are concerned about helping them to cushion the impact," Prime Minister Marouf Bakheet told reporters.
The government has said it will give 62 million dinars ($87 million) to help people on low incomes with the higher prices.
posted by Marko at 4/09/2006 12:39:00 PM
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