Searches continued Wednesday in the Jordanian city of Maan, but officials said the city was calm. At least 50 people had been detained, but alleged gang leader Mohammad Ahmad al-Chalabi and four other leaders remained at large.
Some 15 police officers and three suspects were injured Tuesday in what government spokesman Mohammad Affash Adwan called "sporadic" shooting.
Jordan TV showed pictures Wednesday of a laboratory it said was used for manufacturing explosives. It said police found the factory Wednesday morning in the basement of a gang member's house, along with equipment and night-vision goggles.
Among the illegal weapons seized was a rocket launcher and rocket-propelled grenades found hidden in al-Chalabi's home, Interior Minister Qaftan Majali said, according to AP. Al-Chalabi is suspected of ties to a banned militant group called Takfir wal Hijra, or "Repentance and Flight," which advocates isolation from the sinful world.
Police tried to capture him two weeks ago during a roundup of Islamic extremists following the killing of an American diplomat in Amman.
Al-Chalabi was wounded in a shootout outside Maan and taken to a hospital. But some 20 gunmen later stormed in and freed him, according to the interior minister. (Albawaba.com)
© 2002 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
