Nader Al-Unaizi Okaz/ Saudi Gazette TABUK — The recent clashes between two rival tribal factions in Mutah University in Jordan has thrown the future of Saudi students at the university in jeopardy. Earlier this week, students belonging to two tribes from Karak Governorate, 130 kilometers south of Amman, used guns, knives, and stones in the brawl, during which the dean's deputy was stabbed as he was trying to intervene. The recent clashes brought to memory a similar incident three months ago when Saudi and Gulf students were attacked. A number of Saudi students said that they heard several gunshots and saw smoke coming from the university campus. Police were called in to control the situation. Yousuf Al-Unaizi, a Saudi student at the university, said that after the incident, lectures were suspended and students were evacuated from the campus. He demanded that the educational section at the Saudi Embassy in Amman transfer them to another university. Sources told Okaz newspaper that Saudi students attending the summer semester at the university were not harmed in the incident but said the students were in fear of their lives and added that there were unconfirmed reports of clashes breaking out elsewhere on campus. A source at the Saudi embassy in Amman, who did not want to mention his name, said the Kingdom had stopped sending Saudi students to the university and efforts are underway to transfer the rest of the Saudi students in the university elsewhere. The same source added that several Saudi students had rejected the idea of transferring to another university because they had either nearly completed their degrees or would lose too many credits if they transferred.
