JORDAN - March 23 - Expulsion Of Iraq Envoys Sparks Riots.

Amman expels 3 Iraqi diplomats for internal security reasons. PM Ali Abul Ragheb defends the expulsion - the first in the Arab World since hostilities in Iraq began on March 20 - saying the diplomats have breached the kingdom's security. He adds: "The Iraqi embassy will stay open in Jordan, and its remaining [21] diplomats are welcome in our country". But in Iraq and on the kingdom's streets the decision is interpreted as a concession to Washington, which has called on allies to expel Iraqi diplomats and freeze Iraqi assets. Hussein Majalli, who addressed hundreds of protestors outside the Professional Associations Complex in West Amman, said: "It is a shame at the time when we have spies from the Israeli embassy, we are expelling Iraqi missions". Iraqi FM Naji Sabri in Cairo called the expulsion "unfortunate". He said Baghdad "has stood on the side of Jordan for more than 30 years and kept the Jordanian economy alive" (referring to the 80,000 barrels of heavily subsidised oil Iraq has given Jordan each day for past 12 years). In an attempt to assuage his subject's anger, King Abdullah surprised coalition diplomats by appealing for a ceasefire. Ragheb said: "We feel something should be done diplomatically to stop these hostilities". But the call failed to avert angry demonstrations at universities across the kingdom. Protestors called on King Abdullah to open his eastern borders with Iraq to allow Jordanians to fight for Iraq and expel US troops from the kingdom. The authorities say there have been 55 unauthorised demonstrations over the past two days, but assert that they do not destabilise the kingdom. Ragheb said: "We are not worried about an uprising. It shows Jordan is a democratic country, we have nothing to hide. When the [Palestinian] intifada started [in late-Sept. 2000] we had 450 demos in one month. When the Israeli incursion took place in Ramallah [in April 2002] we had we had over 500 demos in ten days, so it's not a new thing that we have demonstrations in Jordan".