Al-Nimr's parents are expected to visit him on Friday on the occasion of the Eid al-Adha holiday.

CNN: Story highlights

But as Nimr exemplifies, there are mutterings about Jordan's inability to act as an independent, Arab country.

BBC: Jordan tribes' despair over Iraq

And some Sunni dissidents sigh that the government thrives on the sort of provocative statements issued by Mr Nimr, whom the Sunni majority in Saudi Arabia already finds easy to demonise.

ECONOMIST: Shias in Saudi Arabia and Bahrain

"Abbas, during his meeting with Obama, was very clear, telling him that settlement construction was an obstacle on the path to peace and to the resumption of talks, and that this was not possible without a settlement freeze, " said Nimr Hammad.

BBC: Obama urges return to Israel-Palestinian peace talks

"The Jordanian Government is not doing enough to help and support the Iraqi people - our foreign policy is completely dominated by the US, " says Nimr, a young man from Salt attending a 2, 000-strong anti-US rally through the city's narrow winding streets.

BBC: Jordan tribes' despair over Iraq