Amman  - A Jordanian dressed a donkey in red and placed it at the entrance of the city of Ramtha, 80 kilometres north of Amman, on Saturday to express his rejection of celebrations marking Valentine's Day, the daily al-Dustour reported Sunday.

"The move is intended to send a clear message to all that celebrating Valentine's Day is strange to our religion, traditions and culture," Ayman Quaider told the paper, which published a picture of the donkey wrapped with a red piece of cloth and with red roses fixed to its ears.

Quaider's donkey protest came as meanwhile Friday prayer leaders and Muslim scholars in Jordan had urged youth to abstain from any Valentine's Day activities, arguing that the occasion was an "invention that runs counter to Islamic teachings."

Nevertheless, according to local papers, many people around Jordan gave flowers, exchanged love letters and went to restaurants on Valentine's Day on Saturday. dpa