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GV Runner carrying burning torch along road after leaving Al-Karameh village
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SCU Runner
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GV Other members of team following in lorries
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GV Runner up road and hands torch to another runner
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GV Lorries following runners
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GV Runner and other participants running as they pass through Es-Salt City...car with loudspeaker playing music ahead of them (2 shots)
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SV Participants carry Jordanian flag
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SCU Runner with torch followed by others with flag (2 shots)
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GV King Hussein Sports Stadium
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GV Torch carried into stadium, followed by flag
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GV People clapping
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GV Runners around track with torch and flag (2 shots)
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Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved

Background: Twenty two athletes on Friday (14 April) took part in a torch relay from Al-Karameh village in Jordan to the capital, Amman - 42 miles (66 kms) away.

The run commemorated the 1968 Battle of Al-Karameh between the forces of Jordan and Israel.

The battle occurred on March 21st, 1968, and the relay was originally planned for the anniversary day. It was postponed because of the political climate following the announcement of King Hussein's proposal for a Federated Kingdom of Jordan.

Taking part in the relay were school pupils, university students, members of sports clubs and Jordanian troops.

The battle commemorated by this run happened nine months after the main Israeli-Arab conflict in 1967. On March 21st, 1968 an Israeli force crossed the Jordan River - supported by tanks and aircraft - in a move Israel described as "a punitive attack to wipe out Arab terrorist bases". Jordanian troops intervened and a major battle took place. Israel claimed it killed 150 terrorists that day, and destroyed 30 Jordanian Army tanks. Jordan claims it killed 200 of the Israeli troops and shot down three planes.

SYNOPSIS: A torch relay in Jordan on Friday to commemorate a 1968 battle between the forces of Jordan and Israel. Twenty-two runners carried the torch in relay from the site of the battle - Al-Karameh - to the capital, Amman, 42 miles away. Each runner covered just under two miles - before handing the torch to another.

The relay was organised jointly by the Jordanian Track and Field Union and the Jordanian Military Sports Union. A loudspeaker van led the runners as they neared Amman.

Towards the end of the journey, the athlete bearing the torch was joined by others holding aloft the Jordanian flag.

The destination of the runners was the King Hussein Stadium in Amman. The relay was to have been held on the anniversary of the battle - March the 21st. It was postponed until Friday because of the political climate following the announcement of King Hussein's proposal for a Federated Jordan.