Iraqi's anti- Jordanian PROTEST

Jordan recalls top diplomat
From correspondents in AmmanMarch 21, 2005

The Australian

JORDAN said today it was recalling its top diplomat in Iraq for consultations over safety after thousands of angry Iraqis took to the streets to demand the embassy close.Iraqis have joined several anti-Jordanian protests over the past week, angered by reports that a Jordanian man carried out a suicide bombing that killed 125 people south of Baghdad last month and that his family had hailed him as a martyr.
Jordan and the man's family have denied he was behind the single bloodiest attack in postwar Iraq.
"The embassy is not closed; we called our diplomat for consultations. If he says it is safe, then he will go back," Foreign Minister Hani al-Mulki told Reuters by telephone.
"If the Iraqi police cannot protect our embassy from protesters, then we will wait until they can. We will not endanger our staff."
The charge d'affaires was expected to arrive in Jordan today and would brief Prime Minister Faisal al-Fayez on the developments, Mulki said.
Protesters have burned Jordanian flags and broken into the heavily guarded embassy at least twice since the suicide bombing in Hilla on February 28. They held banners reading "no to terrorism" and called on Arabs to speak out against praise of suicide bombers.
The Jordanian embassy has been the target of at least two suicide bombings since the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003.
In a statement, Fayez offered condolences to the families of Iraqis killed in "terrorist acts", condemning "those who take religion as a pretext for committing crimes that have nothing to do with Islam".