Amman was gradually returning to normal on Thursday (1 October) as Government and guerrilla leaders concluded an agreement to bring peace to the country.

The wreckage and smashed buildings in the capital were mute evidence of the bitter fighting last month between Royalist forces and Palestinians. Contacts with the outside world returned to normal on Saturday with the resumption of regular airline flights into the war-torn capital. While fighting had stopped in Amman, in the North of the country Government forces were still surrounding the town of Irbid where more than 3,000 commandos were in control.

Amman citizens are now moving about the streets after nearly a fortnight of fighting when people in the open were targets for sniper fire. A guerrilla spokesman also announced on Saturday that the Jordanian Army and Palestinian guerrillas will release, with in 48 hours, all prisoners captured during the civil war. The Government, which has not yet confirmed the report, is said to have detained up to 20,000 people during the war. Some of these prisoners have been released already.