Arab News spoke with the former Minister of Information Hani Al-Kasami, who attended Cairo University at the same time as Saddam Hussein. He was frank about the demonstration’s purpose.

“I’m here as a member of the Jordanian Press Association, but also to take the opportunity to show solidarity with the demonstrators in the United Kingdom and America who feel for the plight of the Iraqi people and know that this war is wrong,” Kasami said.

As soon as the walk started the script was somehow altered. Banners asking for the boycott of US and British products were raised, and then there were posters of Saddam everywhere. A group of Jordanian youths barely in their teens started leading pro-Saddam chants: “Oh Saddam greet Israel with a bomb”, “Shame on all the indifferent Arabs”, and “Saddam we love you”. There were also chants against Arab governments the protesters believe support the war.

“I’m not surprised,” said Mohammed Adeeb, a journalist. “People see this as an illegal war, and because of the resistance he has shown in the first week of the war, people see Saddam as a hero.”