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Ammon News - By Amal Ghabayen

AMMONNEWS - Hundreds of Jordanians belonging to Salafi Jihadist movements staged a protest on Sunday calling for the release of detained relatives and fellow members.

Protestors crowding near the Prime Ministry headquarters in a rare move blasted that the imprisonment of fellow members of ultraconservative Salafi groups "is to appease the United States and Israel."

Abu Obada, a protestor from the southern governorate of Ma'an, said that "Jordan has been tarnished with an American political and military flavor in the past ten years, and the country and its people have been sacrificed for the sake of this alliance."

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He charged that the country's resources have been embezzled by "America's servants," adding that Jordanian authorities are illegitimately raiding homes and imprisoning citizens who express their opinions freely."

Saad Hunaiti, another protestor, said that Jordanian citizen Eyad Al Qunaibi was detained and stood trial for merely providing help to the poor, "whereas the corrupt who steal the country's funds and sell tribal lands remain in their high positions without accountability."

Protestors said that followers of Islamist Jihadist movements suffer poor conditions in prisons, including torture and humiliation.

A former detainee, Osama Abu Zayed, said that his fellow prisoners suffer collective punishments, including burning of their beards and prolonged exposure to extreme temperatures.

There are nearly 200 followers of Salafi Jihadist movements detained in Jordanian prisons on various charges, several were charged by the State Security Court (SSC) of plotting violent acts and recruiting fighters in the past few years.

The Salafi Jihadist current, outlawed in Jordan, stressed that it will continue to protest to demand the release of the prisoners, noting that their next protest will be on Sunday March 13th in front of the Prime Ministry headquarters in Amman.

See more pictures and coverage on Ammon News Arabic @ http://ammonnews.net/article.aspx?articleNO=81968

* By Banan Malkawi for Ammon News English