Thousands of Jordanians protest in support of reform

Amman: The leader of Jordan's largest opposition group has warned that citizens' patience is wearing thin with the government's "slow" moves toward reform.

Hamza Mansour on Friday urged quicker steps to give Jordanians a bigger say in politics and to have them elect their prime minister -- now selected by King Abdullah II.

Mansour spoke to 4,000 Jordanian protesters, the largest crowd yet to take to the streets of downtown Amman for the pro-reform cause. Jordanians have now been holding protests for eight consecutive Fridays.

He said that Jordanians were "proud" of their peers who have rebelled against their autocratic governments in Tunisia, Egypt and Algeria.
Protesters also demanded new elections.