Riot police battle anti-Israel protesters in Jordan, Syria

AMMAN, Jordan (AP) -- Police fired tear gas and brought out armored cars to block thousands of angry protesters chanting "Death to the Jews" from marching on the Israeli and U.S. embassies Friday.

The demonstrations followed Muslim prayers in which mosque preachers urged Jordan's government to sever relations with Israel forged in a 1994 peace treaty.

In Syria, hundreds of Palestinians from refugee camps outside Damascus got to within 500 meters (550 yards) of the U.S. Embassy where police stopped them with water canon and tear gas.

The Palestinians pelted the police with stones. Reporters saw police arrest at least 25 protesters. Dozens of people were wounded, police officers as well as demonstrators.

In Jordan, at least 5,000 protesters left al-Husseini mosque in downtown Amman, calling on Iraqi President Saddam Hussein to attack Israel and chanting "Use your chemical (weapons), Saddam."

The crowd consisted mainly of activists affiliated with Muslim fundamentalist and leftist groups opposed to peace with Israel.

Police fired tear gas and baton charged the protesters when they tried to march on the Israeli Embassy in Rabiyeh district. They responded by hurling stones at the police and smashing shop windows and public phone booths.

The security forces deployed armored vehicles and calm was restored.

A second group of 1,000 protesters got as close as 300 meters (330 yards) of the hilltop Israeli Embassy before police blocked them. After the demonstrators showered the police with stones, the officers fired tear gas and charged the crowd with batons, wounding several and arresting dozens.

Reporters saw police chasing protesters into private homes. In one case, The Associated Press saw a dozen policemen storm a house and confiscate a video film of the riot being shot by its residents.

A third group of 2,000 demonstrators clashed with police who blocked their path on the way to the U.S. Embassy in Amman's posh Abdoun district.

Police fired tear gas. The protesters threw stones, smashed shop windows and public phone booths, and set fire to tires.

Demonstrations took place in other parts of the capital and in other cities as Jordanians expressed solidarity with Palestinians confronting Israeli police in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. More than 70 people have been killed and 1,900 wounded in a week of clashes since a hard-line Israeli politician visited a contested shrine in east Jerusalem that is holy to Muslims and Jews.

Roughly two thirds of Jordan's 4.8 million population is of Palestinian descent.

Copyright 2000 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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