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Jordanians Plan Pro-Reform Demonstrations

Islamists, youth groups and other opposition parties plan to hold pro-reform demonstrations across Jordan on Friday, as Americans were told to avoid protest areas.

The powerful Islamic Action Front (IAF) and other groups, including leftists, will march after Friday midday prayers from Al-Hussein mosque in Amman city center to the nearby city hall "to emphasize national unity and demand reform," they said in an advertisement in local papers.

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Jordanian Reuters Journalist Missing in Syria

A Reuters journalist of Jordanian nationality has gone missing in unrest-hit Syria, the Amman government announced Thursday, saying it was seeking information about his whereabouts.

"The Jordanian consul in Damascus is trying to get information from the Syrian authorities about Suleiman Khalidi of the Reuters bureau in Amman. He went to Damascus but no one heard from him since Tuesday," foreign ministry spokesman Mohammed Kayed told Agence France Presse.

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100 Hurt as Jordan Protesters, Govt Loyalists Clash in Amman

More than 100 people were injured Friday as pro-reform protesters and government supporters clashed in Amman, prompting police to use water cannons to disperse them.

Anti-riot police also broke up a protest camp for students and arrested several of them, a security official told Agence France Presse.

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Witnesses: Jordanian 'Loyalists' Attack, Injure Youths

Several Jordanian student protesters were in hospital Friday after "loyalists" attacked their protest camp as police stood by, witnessed told Agence France Presse.

Around 500 young people from different movements, including the powerful Islamist opposition, had camped out in the rain and cold weather to call for reforms to the current regime and for corrupt leaders to be put on trial.

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Jordan Islamists Urge Morocco-Style Reform

Jordan's Islamists urged King Abdullah II on Monday to carry out reforms similar to measures taken this month by his Moroccan counterpart, saying there was no need for a dialogue commission.

"King Abdullah knows the meaning of real reform, which does not need a committee to initiate dialogue," Zaki Bani Rsheid, head of political office of the Islamic Action Front (IAF), told Agence France Presse.

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Jordan’s Islamists Rally for Reforms

Hundreds of Islamists rallied in Jordan on Friday to demand sweeping government reforms, vowing to step up their protests if their demands are ignored.

Surrounded by a cordon of police, they chanted "The people want regime reforms," and "What is acceptable today will not be tomorrow," as well as "We want the dissolution of parliament."

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Scores of Lebanese Flee Libya Violence Via Amman, Urge for Help

Scores of Lebanese returned home from strife-torn Libya via Jordan on Sunday, urging Beirut authorities to facilitate the evacuation of other Lebanese citizens there, said the state-run National News Agency.

The Lebanese came aboard a Jordanian plane along with several members of their family holding Libyan passports, said NNA.

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Jordan King Wants 'Real and Fast' Reforms

Jordan's King Abdullah II on Sunday urged speedy reforms, comprehensive dialogue and more efforts to battle corruption amid popular discontent and pro-reform protests.

"When I talk about reform, it means that I want real and fast reforms," the king told government officials, MPs, senators and members of the judiciary, the state-run Petra news agency reported.

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Gadhafi Urges Refugee 'March on Palestine'

Libyan leader Moammer Gadhafi has urged Palestinian refugees to take advantage of current unrest sweeping across the Arab world and stage a march on the Palestinian territories.

"In the context of the popular Arab revolutionary movement, the Palestinian refugees... must march on Palestine, along with their families," he said in a speech to thousands of supporters marking the birthday of the Prophet Mohammed.

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Jordan King Meets U.S. Army Chief

King Abdullah II met on Sunday with the top U.S. military commander who is visiting key allies Jordan and Israel to reaffirm Washington's support following the fall of Egypt's Hosni Mubarak.

The king and U.S. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mike Mullen "discussed bilateral cooperation and a number of issues of common concern," a brief palace statement said without elaborating.

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