Sami sent me this: "Hope all is well. You often mention that there is hardly any coverage on Jordan
in the Western press. It's even difficult to separate news from the rumors
living in Amman. In the last 48 hours there have been massive protests in
response to Saturday's 10% rise in 'regular' fuel prices: In the past 3 months
'regular' fuel has risen from 62 to 70 to 77 piasters per liter whereas watered
down 'premium' has rocketed from 79 piasters to JD1 to JD1.015 per liter in that
same time frame. The price of diesel fuel (mostly used for heating homes, making
bread in bakeries and filling commercial trucks) continues to rise as
well.
When the new prices were announced (it had been rumored that prices would go up beforehand) a thousand or so gathered in 'duwar al dakhlia' (a traffic circle near to the Interior Ministry; a.k.a Jamal Abdel Naser Square) and 4th Circle (facing Parliament) calling for reform and "iskat el nitham." Again it is hard to separate news from rumor here - especially since these protests are broken up by police almost as soon as they occur - but most radio and internet outlets (including Twitter feeds) say that the protesters are mostly made up of supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood (but again don't buy this... yet). All major gathering points are now under high security - downtown vendors' kiosks have been dismantled and an armed US-made Humvee sits at almost every traffic circle. Taxi drivers have called for an all out strike and plan on staging massive blockades of major roads.
More information as the situation develops; in the meantime I ask that your readers keep a good eye on Jordan"
When the new prices were announced (it had been rumored that prices would go up beforehand) a thousand or so gathered in 'duwar al dakhlia' (a traffic circle near to the Interior Ministry; a.k.a Jamal Abdel Naser Square) and 4th Circle (facing Parliament) calling for reform and "iskat el nitham." Again it is hard to separate news from rumor here - especially since these protests are broken up by police almost as soon as they occur - but most radio and internet outlets (including Twitter feeds) say that the protesters are mostly made up of supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood (but again don't buy this... yet). All major gathering points are now under high security - downtown vendors' kiosks have been dismantled and an armed US-made Humvee sits at almost every traffic circle. Taxi drivers have called for an all out strike and plan on staging massive blockades of major roads.
More information as the situation develops; in the meantime I ask that your readers keep a good eye on Jordan"
