Amman - Jordanian Prime Minister Nader Dahabi apologized
Friday for the beating by police of four al-Jazeera cameramen and the
news network's Amman bureau chief during a demonstration outside the
Israeli embassy in Jordan's capital.
Dahabi made a personal visit to extend his apology to Yasser Abu
Helalah, director of the Arabic television channel's Amman office,
who was being treated in hospital for injuries suffered in the melee.
The beatings earlier Friday drew protests from the Jordanian
journalists syndicate and the Foreign Correspondents Club.
Scores of protestors were also beaten outside the embassy during a
massive rally against the Israeli military offensive in the Gaza
Strip. Thousands of demonstrators tried repeatedly to break through a
Jordanian police cordon around the Israeli embassy.
Police used teargas, clubs and water hoses to disperse stone-
throwing protestors, who were demanding the closure of the Israeli
embassy, expulsion of the Israeli ambassador and abrogation of
Jordan's 1994 peace treaty with Israel.
Police and special forces removed by force a tent that was set up
near the Israeli embassy shortly after the start of the Israeli air
campaign on December 27.
More than 100,000 Jordanians took part in a separate rally in
Amman that was organized by the influential Muslim Brotherhood
movement and its political arm, the Islamic Action Front (IAF).
Tens of thousands of Jordanians joined massive demonstrations in
other major cities throughout the country, state-run media reported.
Demonstrators offered to volunteer to fight Israeli troops in
Gaza.
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