AMMAN — Police said on Sunday they dispersed around 200 Libyans who were protesting in front of their country's embassy in the capital’s Wadi Saqra area demanding financial compensation for their medical treatment in Jordan.
Police tried to persuade the protesters, who arrived at 11:00am, to leave the area but they refused, and instead threw stones at the embassy, the police and vehicles parked in the vicinity when no one from the mission met with them to hear their demands, Public Security Department (PSD) Spokesperson Lt. Col. Mohammad Khatib said.
"Gendarmerie forces were sent to the embassy and we had to use the appropriate force to disperse the protesters because they were attempting to enter the embassy," Khatib added.
Several people were injured and sent to hospital, he noted, without specifying the number of injured or their medical condition.
The protesters were demanding financial support from their government to pay for accommodations and medical treatment in Jordan, according to the police official.
A store owner, who had to close his shop fearing for his safety and his business, said police used teargas to disperse the protesters.
"I had several Libyans coming to my store asking to wash the teargas from their eyes and I decided to close my shop because I was afraid the situation might get out of control," the 28-year-old, who refused to be identified, told The Jordan Times.
The store owner said he reopened his shop at around 3:00pm after making sure that the police had brought the situation under control.
A 50-year-old Libyan said his compatriots gathered in front of the embassy to demand financial support "from our government and money for medical treatment".
"Our government said they sent us money for treatment and other expenses here in Jordan but the embassy is refusing to give us the money and they keep delaying the payments," Al Amouri Tayseer told The Jordan Times.
A 45-year-old woman said she was disgruntled with officials at the Libyan embassy for ignoring them.
"We are just demanding our rights... we have been standing in front of the embassy for hours and nobody even bothered to talk to us," she told The Jordan Times.
Libyan embassy officials were unavailable to comment on the incident all day Sunday.
Fahim says:
This is outrageous. Isn't it Jordan who helped the coallition to get rid of the criminal Qaddafi? Isn't it Jordan who sent hospitals to treat the wounded and casualties ? why would these mobs create problems to our country? Just expel them from Jordan.
carlos says:
Why are they keeping them here longer? Deport these ungrateful people!