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Jordan Report
=============

Dear Friends,

Anti-war activist Shadi Mdanat was arrested in front of his house in the
southern city of Karak, Jordan, around eight on Tuesday night of
April 1, 2003, by a group of Jordanian intelligence officers who
are keeping him incommunicado until this moment.

The arrest of Shadi Mdanat for his anti-war activities comes at a
time when dozens of Jordanian activists who were arrested in the
last few weeks are being released, including Naser Biqaeen, another
activist from Karak who spent eleven days in solitary confinement in
jail cell number 67 in the prison of the Jordanian Intelligence
Division, and many others, like activists Tayseer Shrouf and Naser Sarisi.

Nevertheless, Mdanat's arrest is a move that runs contrary to the
turnabout that the regime has been performing in the last few days
in the direction of:

1) Halting the waves of arbitrary and unconstitutional arrests that
   were going to affect hundreds of activists whose names were compiled
   in a list that the Jordanian Intelligence Division has compiled for
   this purpose, according to a senior officer who said something to
   that effect during the interrogation of an activist
2) Releasing most of the first batch of those to be arrested which
   included about thirty activists who were picked up in the last
   few weeks, and who would have been incarcerated much longer had
   Iraq not held steadfast, and had there not been local and international
   campaigns for their release
3) Partially loosening the heavy hand of the authorities over the Jordanian
   street which is infinitely opposed to aggression on Iraq.  This is being
   done to release the pent-up anger in preparation for absorbing the street
   completely.  Yet that does not mean that transgressions on the
   constitutional rights of Jordanians will cease, as happened for
   example when dozens of students were arrested following pro-Iraq
   protests in the University of Mou'ta, when tear gas canisters were
   fired during protests on the campus of the Jordanian University,
   and finally, when Shadi Mdanat was arrested while hanging out in
   front of his home in the evening.

Still, the limited conciliatory moves are accompanied by a partial
shift in the rhetoric of the Jordanian regime in the direction of
displaying concern for Iraq, while American and British forces
continue to languish on Jordanian soil.  But even that partial
shift is constrained a great deal, as for example when TV anchor
Assaf Shoubaki was recently prevented from reading the news because
he said: "Seventy Iraqis martyred during a coalition raid..", instead
of what the script said, which was: "Seventy Iraqis died
during a coalition raid.."!

Nevertheless, the partial turnabout from the usual repressive
measures and in the rhetoric of the regime can be attributed
primarily to two factors:

1) the steadfastness of Iraqi resistance, which left the regime quite
   embarrassed before Iraq and the Jordanian street after hosting
   American and British troops on Jordanian soil
2) the rude awakening of the Arab street in general, and the
   Jordanian street in particular, after a very long nap.

Thus, the release of many arrested activists in the last few
days comes in this particular political context, which does
not imply at all that oppression will be abandoned as a matter
of principle as we can see from the arrest of Shadi Mdanat.

That is why we need to raise our voices high:  NO to the
conniving of Arab regimes against Iraq!

NO to the violation of the constitutional rights of Arab citizens!

Freedom to activist Shadi Mdanat!

Later
Ibrahim Alloush
Amman, Jordan
April 2, 2003