Prior to the Amman demonstrations, the southern city of Maan witnessed a spate of violence in early January following two deaths during a brawl between members of two southern tribes. Some Maan residents were angered at the police's failure to arrest those responsible for the deaths, and their protests escalated into two days of anti-government demonstrations. A few days later, a meeting of community leaders and representatives of civil society organisations in the Maan governorate called for ''in-depth'' studies to examine the reasons behind the violence and for urgent plans to deal with poverty and unemployment. The Maan trouble was the latest of a series of local disputes that have escalated into anti-government protest and street violence and are generally seen as evidence of the loss of confidence in the state by traditionally loyal tribal Jordanians.