By Raed Omari

AMMAN – Riots erupted anew but faded away within hours on Sunday in the northern town of Ramtha following the release of the results of an autopsy on Najem Azaizeh, who died last week while in police custody.

The autopsy report said that Azaizeh, 21, died of asphyxiation and not police brutality, noting his body bore no traces of violence or torture.

The report, which echoed the Public Security Department’s (PSD) initial investigation of the incident, said the direct cause of death was asphyxiation resulting from a rope or a similar object.

Last week, the PSD said in a statement posted on its website that Azaiazeh hanged himself using a rope he made from a blanket in his cell.

Unsatisfied with the autopsy results, residents of Ramtha took to the streets again yesterday, burning tyres and blocking the main roads and highways.

A city resident, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told The Jordan Times over the phone yesterday that riots broke out again early yesterday in the city, some 80km north of Amman, when several people set fire to tyres and blocked the main highway linking the city with Irbid and Amman.

He added that protesters are dissatisfied with the results of the body examination, still believing that Azaizeh died of police brutality.

“But that is not what all people in Ramtha believe,” he said, adding that “most people oppose such reactions as they pose threats to the country’s security and stability”.

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Note by the editor: The headline may be a bit misleading. The ‘riots’ are not that serious in Jordan as in other regional countries. It is however a sign that tensions are high here also. The Government needs to take care and pay special attention to the moods and worries of the people.