By Daniel Williams
Washington Post foreign Service
Monday, February 23, 1998; Page A12

MAAN, Jordan, Feb. 22—The passions uncoiled when soldiers fired tear gas at a crowd bearing the body of a young man.

"Saddam, unleash your chemical weapons. Free us from this repression," they shouted as the body fell to the ground and the mourners scattered.

Over the past three days, the violence in Maan, a desert town in southern Jordan, has become a warning sign of the dangers of violent backlash in the Middle East in response to a possible attack on Iraq by the United States and Britain.

All the elements that could contribute to disturbances in the region ignited here -- frustrations with poverty and an authoritarian government; skepticism over the stalled Middle East peace talks; pity for Iraqi citizens coupled with admiration, if often grudging, for Saddam Hussein's willingness to stand up to the West in general and the United States in particular.

And when the eruption came, even in a dusty, isolated cinder-block town, the Jordanian government worked quickly to cap it.

King Hussein placed a curfew on Maan after the shooting death of the young man during a pro-Iraqi rally Friday gave way to riots Saturday. Soldiers went house-to-house looking for arms. Armored vehicles with patrolled the streets. Schools and businesses were closed. Telephone connections were blocked, minimizing contact with the rest of Jordan.

Sullen townspeople gathered indoors sipping bitter coffee. "They say this curfew will last for three days and even longer if the Americans bomb Saddam," said Mahmoud B., a truck driver, who, like others, asked that his full name not be used. "But if they hit Iraq, there will be trouble anyway and not only here."

Maan, population 40,000, sits on a rock-strewed plain on the road to Saudi Arabia. Its fortunes have sunk in recent years as Saudi-Jordanian relations soured and trade plummeted. The Saudis have yet to forgive King Hussein for initially backing Iraq's 1990 invasion of Kuwait.

Of the few in Maan who have jobs -- unemployment is estimated at 40 percent -- many work as drivers hauling goods to and from the port of Aqaba.

The government had banned demonstrations on Feb. 14 after police, using clubs and attack dogs, broke up a march outside an Amman mosque. But last week, Leith Shubeilat, a leading dissident, traveled to Maan and urged townspeople to demonstrate on Friday.

Several hundred protesters began marching from the main mosque and were almost immediately set upon by police, witnesses said. Tear gas was fired from the rooftops of government buildings, and rifle fire rang out. Mohamed Kateb, 23, a demonstrator -- some say he was a passerby -- was shot in the back.

As word spread, much of the town erupted in protests that lasted until nightfall. The government said that protesters shot Kateb. Police intercepted Shubeilat en route to Amman and arrested him on charges of inciting a riot.

The next afternoon, about 2,000 mourners retrieved Kateb's body from a hospital. They corraled an armored vehicle guarding the hospital, releasing its crew members but commandeering their weapons.

As they carried the shrouded body outside on a stretcher, police fired tear gas and the mourners turned into a mob, burning a government housing bank, an Education Ministry building and some electrical installations. Some protesters produced hunting weapons, and firefights broke out. Alternately dropping the body and picking it up, the crowd chanted pro-Iraqi slogans, including, "With our blood and souls, we will defend you, Saddam."

In the middle of the night, as the town quieted, soldiers ringed Maan and began searching for weapons. King Hussein visited on Saturday to speak to the governor and address soldiers. "Everyone who tries to stir trouble and riots in this country is contributing to the implementation of conspiracies," he said. He warned that in the event of an attack on Iraq, Jordan could face a massive influx of refugees from Iraq and perhaps from the West Bank, should the Israelis and Palestinians fight.

He did not, however, visit Kateb's relatives, which residents felt was an insult. "We still love the king and would have welcomed him," said Ayman K., a truck driver. "But where is democracy if we cannot say what we think like other people in the world?"

Protesters interviewed today complained about unemployment. Jordan is growing too slowly to produce many jobs, analysts say.

Residents also expressed the widely held view here that the Israeli-Palestinian peace talks have been languishing while Washington focuses on Iraq. "Nothing good is happening with the Palestinians," said Mahmoud B.