Jordanian security forces storm prison after riot

Police forces clashed with Islamist inmates at an isolated hilltop prison in northern Jordan today.

One inmate reported that prisoners had been wounded in the fighting.

A security official said the disturbances began shortly after dawn, when inmates at Qafqafa penitentiary, mainly Islamists who had just finished the dawn prayers, refused routine inspection by their wardens.

He declined to provide details, but said “pushing and shoving” broke out in one of the jailblocks where there were more than 30 prisoners.

Al-Jazeera satellite network reported that two police officers were taken hostage in the melee.

A prisoner who spoke to the network by mobile phone threatened the lives of the two men if the security forces did not stop their assault.

The security official declined to confirm if any policemen were captured. He said authorities were in control of the situation, but refused to say if they were negotiating with the inmates or if they planned to storm the jailblock.

It was the second riot at a Jordanian prison in a month.

Prisoner Abed Shihadeh al-Tahawi told Al-Jazeera by cell phone that security forces used tear gas and live bullets against prisoners, wounding some.

“Our place is still besieged, they are still using tear gas and live bullets,” he said of the security forces. “We tell them, if they proceed, if they won’t stop, if they try to enter, we have two hostages, and their destiny will be grave.”

It was not clear if the officers were detained in the riot or after security forces began their assault.

Al-Tahawi is serving three years in jail for plotting terrorist strikes against the American and Israeli embassies in Jordan in 2004.

The 51-year-old Palestinian advocates the Takfiri ideology – an extremist doctrine that regards non-militant Muslims as infidels, according to documents by the military court, which tried him last year. It said he received training on weapons use during his frequent visits to Afghanistan in 1986.

Al-Jazeera said Qafqafa prison holds 34 Islamist prisoners.

The prison, one of six across Jordan, is situated in on a hilltop near the city of Irbid, about 50 miles north of the capital Amman. It comprise several buildings that are encircled by high walls.

In March, inmates at three prisons rioted in sympathy over two convicted al Qaida terrorists, taking a high-ranking official hostage and injuring several police officers in a 14-hour stand-off.

The inmates also demanded the release of an Iraqi woman would-be suicide bomber, raising concerns about rising sympathy for the terrorist group in Mideast prisons.