Friday, May 30, 2008

"The hardline president of Jordan's Bar Association says authorities canceled an event that was to host the U.S. ambassador after pressure from the lawyers' union. Saleh Armouti says he and dozens of other lawyers staged a protest at Palace of Justice, which houses several Jordanian courts and where U.S. ambassador David Hale was to attend a ceremony. At the rally, the lawyers shouted: «No to the visit of Iraq's occupier and the enemy of Arabs. The union groups about 10,000 lawyers, many of them linked with hardline Muslim and leftist groups that perceive Washington's Mideast policy as biased toward Israel and bent on controlling Arab oil wealth. Jordanian government officials were not immediately available for comment. The U.S. Embassy declined comment.""