I have spoken with a member of the delegation, who reiterated in very frustrated tones how they were left standing for nine hours yesterday before being told that they couldn't get through the checkpoint although they had got an 'ok' from embassies in Jordan and the US high command to go through. Guns were pointed at them and they were told to leave. They refused to do so, and sat down. The people who were slightly injured whilst being forcibly removed from their sit down protest by American soldiers back into the jeeps are alright.
Today, the delegation found out that the reason this 'ok' was actually a 'no' was that the US high command thought they were a delegation of anti globalisation activists, which tells a lot about the new and democratic Iraq the US have pledged to build and given as one of their reasons for invading and bombing the country, as part of freeing it of its undemocratic regime!
So the delegation has decided to thin down, leaving a subtantial core of people, and is fighting to get a formal 'ok' from the Italian ambassador to Jordan himself, De martino. He will only get this formal approval from the Us Command in Bagdad, so in theory, if the delegation gets an approval, this time they should be able to get through. They are now in Amman, waiting for a reply. Meanwhile they are liaising with many organizations working with Palestinians refugees in Jordan, and dealing with Palestinian issues, in order to update them on the refugee camp they saw in the no man's land between Iraq and Jordan, where many Palestinians who fled Iraq during the war but were refused entry into Jordan have been staying for some time now. The camp is run by the UN, but members of the delegation have said that the refugees are being mistreated by the US soldiers. The delegation had tried to make contact with them but were prevented by the soldiers.