Police charge anti-US protesters

Police in riot gear charged at thousands of worshippers outside Amman's oldest mosque today as anti-American feeling spilled onto the streets of the Jordanian capital.

A crowd chanting "death to Americans" attempted to march on the US embassy.

Within seconds, hundreds of riot police emerged from side streets and dispersed the protesters, swinging batons indiscriminately. The Jordanian government is walking a delicate political tightrope, condemning the war on its eastern neighbour publicly, while privately maintaining close links with Washington.

US and UK special forces are thought to have used an air base near the Iraqi border to launch special operations. The US and Israeli embassies in Amman are ringed with police to defend against increasingly hostile attitudes to westerners and the war in Iraq.

Across the Middle East, Muslims used religious gatherings to underline their opposition to the war with Iraq.

In Tehran, the Iranian capital, tens of thousands joined a stateorganised demonstration in which protesters shouted "death to America" and "death to Saddam" - the Iranian government opposes the attack on Iraq but has maintained its opposition to the Iraqi regime.