Jordan arrests Brotherhood deputy for criticising UAE

Deputy lead of Muslim Brotherhood in Jordan accused of "acts that could harm Jordan's relations with a brotherly state" after critical article.

AMMAN // Jordan has arrested the deputy leader of the country’s Muslim Brotherhood after he criticised the United Arab Emirates for classifying the movement as a “terrorist organisation”, a judicial source said on Friday.

Zaki Bani Rsheid was summoned late on Thursday for questioning by the state security prosecutor who later ordered his detention for 15 days, which could be extended.

He was accused of “acts that could harm Jordan’s relations with a brotherly state” after he criticised the UAE for blacklisting 80 Islamist groups as “terrorist organisations”.

The list, published last week, is similar to one issued by Saudi Arabia in March. It blacklists several groups including Al Qaeda, ISIL, the Muslim Brotherhood and Yemen’s Shiite Houthi militia.

Mr Bani Rsheid criticised the move.

Allies Jordan and the UAE are partners in the US-led campaign against ISIL extremists, and both countries have carried out airstrikes on the group in Syria as part of an international coalition.

The Muslim Brotherhood was formed in Egypt in 1928, and branches of the group appeared across the region over the years.

It is the main opposition force in Jordan and has wide grassroots support.

In contrast to a tough crackdown against the movement in in Egypt and Gulf countries, Jordanian authorities have tolerated the Brotherhood’s presence.

However, in September Jordan arrested the senior Brotherhood member Mohamed Said Bakr on charges of incitement against the authorities.

Mr Bakr, a member of the group’s consultative council, was detained after criticising the government at a public event, and accusing it of being “subject to the United States”.

* Agence France-Presse