Shots have been fired after the Jordanian military clashed with thousands of protesters in Amman, leaving at least two civilians injured.The casualties were caused on Sunday in the capital, after a military Royal Guard bus tried to disperse demonstrators. “Two demonstrators were slightly injured," deputy Musa Zawahrah was quoted by AFP as saying. Thousands of Jordanians took to the streets in Amman over a land dispute. King Abdullah II "immediately dispatched his adviser on tribal affairs, Sharif Fawwaz Zabn, who told members of the two tribes that a royal decree will be issued returning the land to the people," Zawahrah said. The two tribes of Zawahrah and Khalailah were authorized by the government in 1952 to use a 2,500-hectare (6,177-acre) piece of land. Later, however, "the government acquired chunks of the land for its employees, Zarqa university and the Jordan Press Association," Zawahrah charged.
"This is against the law and the constitution. Such an authorization cannot be granted twice," he added.Tribes make up 40 percent of Jordan's demographic map. Earlier, in a joint statement, the heads of 36 tribes said, “We call on the king to return the land and farms given to the Yassin family (of Queen Rania) to the treasury. The land belongs to the Jordanian people.” They urged the monarch to completely eject the queen from the the desert country's politics. According to the national laws, people who publicly criticize the king, queen or any member of the Jordanian royal family can be sentenced to three years in prison. Popular discontent has been raging in Jordan concurrent with regional pro-democracy movements, most notably the revolution in Egypt, which recently toppled President Hosni Mubarak. The ouster was followed by countrywide jubilation in Jordan and Yemen coincidental with Egypt. On Tuesday, after three weeks of protests, King Abdullah sacked former Prime Minister, Samir Rifai and appointed Marouf Bakhit in his place. The king instructed the choice to "take practical, quick, and tangible steps to launch true political reforms." The opposition, however, says Bakhit is not a reformist.
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