Shooting Breaks out Again in Jordan, Hussein Regime Opposed by Guerrillas

Shooting broke out again tonight in the streets of Amman, the Jordanian capital, which had been under an 18 hour curfew since clashes yesterday between King Hussein’s troops and guerrilla bands apparently backed by Syria. The 4:00 p.m. to 10:00 a.m. curfew was lifted for several hours to permit householders to shop but many shops were boarded up, foreigners were warned to stay indoors and schools were closed. Tanks and troops were reported patrolling the city.

The clashes, which precipitated Jordan’s worst crisis since the June, 1967 war, will determine, observers believe, whether the Jordanian ruler can successfully stand up to guerrilla groups which have accused him of trying to stop their forays against Israel. King Hussein, in a radio address yesterday, assailed the guerrillas as “paid agents” of a foreign power whose aim was to foment civil strife in Jordan and not to fight the common enemy, Israel. King Hussein’s charges were directed against the so-called Victory Phalanges, a splinter group of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. There was no protest against the King from El Fatah, largest and best known commando organization based in Jordan. But the Popular Front denounced Hussein in a statement issued at its Beirut headquarters which accused him of trying to disarm the terrorists to create an atmosphere conducive to implementation of the Security Council’s Nov. 22, 1967 resolution. The Palestinian guerrilla organizations have refused to accept the resolution.

Damascus radio today called for a general meeting of Palestinian terrorist organizations to be held in Cairo tonight or tomorrow. Cairo radio praised the terrorist and issued an oblique warning to Hussein that “anyone who trys to interfere with Palestinian activities is fighting against the collective will of the Arab nation.”