Jordanians Protesting Bread Prices Clash With Police In Two Towns

Jordanians protesting sharp increases in the price of bread fought with police in at least two towns Friday, injuring 14 people, witnesses said.

The wounded included several policemen hit by thrown stones, according to a government employee who spoke on condition of anonymity. Police used tear gas to disperse the crowds in the southern communities of Karak and Maan, and made an unspecified number of arrests.

There were conflicting accounts about the protests and the number of casualties. In a speech carried by state-run news media, King Hussein acknowledged only some “minor injuries.”

Hussein blamed outside agitators. He appealed for calm.

“The homeland needs you all and needs your vigilance, determination and solidarity to eradicate sedition,” he said.

The king did not elaborate, but his criticism appeared aimed at Iraq or Iran, with which Jordan has only lukewarm relations.

Hussein’s government raised wheat prices by 117 percent earlier this week as part of an economic restructuring program supervised by the International Monetary Fund.

One witness said 1,000 worshipers shouting anti-government slogans clashed with police shortly after afternoon prayers in Karak, 90 miles southwest of the capital Amman.

Protesters smashed and burned a government car, a witness said.

Other witnesses said protesters smashed windows of the local government building. Some witnesses said the building was set on fire.

But Information Minister Marwan Mouasher said: “This information is false. There were no damages, no fires and no smashing or burning of cars or buildings.” He said there were no more than 200 protesters.

However, Interior Minister Awad Khleifat, who is in charge of security, put the number of protesters at 400 in a statement to state-run television.

Khleifat said the protesters stoned vehicles and tried to set a government building ablaze.

In Maan, 150 miles south of Amman, two witnesses said at least 300 protesters torched four banks and a government department.

A third of Jordan’s 3.8 million people live below the poverty line, and many fear a rise in bread prices will result in higher prices overall for food. The government has said it will compensate for the increase by raising the cost-of-living allowance for private workers.