Jordan Islamist group to cut ties to Egypt's Brotherhood

Jordan's newly licensed "Muslim Brotherhood Association" announced Friday evening the formation of its executive office, composed of nine members. It will be led by Abdul Majid al-Thunaibat, and Sharaf al-Qudah who will serve as the deputy. The office will be an intern administration for the group until the upcoming election of its leadership.

Thunaibat, the new general supervisor of the group, said in a press conference, that his newly-licensed group would take over from the old group, which he considered illegal, despite its continued existence. His comments came after he got his new group registered early last week as an association from the Ministry of Social Development.

Thunaibat said his newly-licensed group would take over from the old group, which he considered illegal.

He stressed that this new, legal status was mostly to protect the Brotherhood, and to prevent it from being subjected to harassment, prosecution or even being dissolved.

He defended this move, saying "it doesn't come in the context of a dispute, and we are not against certain people or certain organisations, but it comes in the context of the public interest to preserve the core ideology that transcends all odds and which is above all people, whatever their position is."

Cutting ties

Thunaibat, who served as the General Supervisor of the Muslim Brotherhood for 12 years, between 1994 to 2006, has led what he described as a reform within the group to change their legal status as an branch of the parent organisation in Egypt. His justification was that the original license, issued in 1946 when the group was created as a branch of the banned Egyptian Brotherhood, meant the group could be threatened by the criminalisation of the parent organisation in Egypt. He said this was the reason for his dismissal from the group, along with those who signed the request for the group's new license. His dismissal was based on a decision made by the Shura council about three weeks ago.

Thunaibat made a point during the press conference of mentioning the official warnings threatening to dissolve the group whenever things got heated between them and the government, pointing out the tension increased after the group was banned in Egypt and they were considered a terrorist organisation, and because the branch follows the root.

He added that since the main organisation was considered a terrorist organisation, "we realised that sooner or later, we would be considered a terrorist organisation too."

He said that during the past two years he brought up the issue with the group, but "there was no response."

He added the legal status which he got for his group was mainly to amend its existing legal situation and was not a new license. He added the original group was no longer legal, pointing out that the new registration of his group would protect the achievements of the group during the past seventy years. He called on those who felt otherwise to resort to the judiciary. He added control of the group's real estate property, offices, money and branches, were legal issues to be determined by the judiciary.

Thunaibat, a member of the Global Guidance Office, pledged to resign from the office if his membership contradicts Jordanian law. "We will not refrain from submitting to the law, and we will not consider ourselves above it, but we promise ourselves to abide by the law and submit to the Constitution."

Open doors

Meanwhile, the new deputy Qudah said the group would open its doors to all, even those who he described as "the previous leadership".

He added the "the group will only close its doors to those who refuse to join them."

The group will only close its doors to those who refuse to join them. - Sharaf al-Qudah

He criticised what he considered as a secret organisation rumoured to follow the "Islamic Resistance Movement" Hamas.

Qudah stressed that "Hamas" was an "honourable Arab and Muslim Jihadi project. We are with Hamas in its jihad in Palestine," but he added, "each organisation has its own set of rules."

The comptroller general of the original branch, Hammam Saeed, who described himself as the "legitimate comptroller general", accused the government of siding with Thunaibat's group when they to applied for the license, to weaken the group, and called on King Abdullah II to intervene, saying that tampering with the group would have a negative impact on the nation and society.

Prime Minister Abdullah al-Nsour was quoted as saying during a meeting with a delegation from the Muslim Brotherhood that the government is not targeting them. He called on the group to resort to the judiciary to resolve the internal dispute among them.

This is an edited translation from our Arabic edition.