AMMAN, Jordan, Jan. 5 (UPI) -- Thousands of Jordanians demonstrated Friday against the execution of toppled Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein and demanded the closure of the Iranian Embassy.
Ignoring very cold weather and rain in downtown Amman following noon prayers, the demonstrators held up large pictures of the former Iraqi president, whom they described as the "hero martyr of the Arab nation," and chanted anti-American and anti-Iranian slogans.
Amid tight security, the protesters described the Iranian regime as "hateful Safawi," and for the first time called for the closure of the Iranian Embassy and expulsion of its ambassador.
The Safawis is a term used for the Persian Safavid Dynasty that turned Iran into a Shiite state in the 1500s and that sought to forcefully expand its Persian power across the neighboring region, particularly to the predominantly Muslim Sunni Arab world.
Iran's support for Saturday's execution of Saddam in Baghdad has turned once Jordanian sympathizers with Iran in its conflict with the United States over Tehran's nuclear program into anti-Iranian.
The Jordanian demonstrators chanted angry slogans against Iraqi Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, describing him as a "coward," and "son of shame," after video footage of the execution showed his executioners chanting "Moqtada!" before the former leader was hanged.
The protesters also chanted slogans against U.S. President George W. Bush, describing him as a "coward," and demanded he pull his troops out of Iraq.
The massive demonstration was organized by the kingdom's 14 opposition parties, led by the Islamic Action Front of the Muslim Brotherhood and includes leftist and Arab nationalist groups, as well as the politically-active professional unions.
