Jordan security services ‘close Muslim Brotherhood HQ’

A boy stands near the main entrance of the Muslim Brotherhood’s office in Amman, after it was shut by the police acting on orders of the governor. Muhammad Hamed / Reuters

AMMAN // Jordanian security services on Wednesday raided and shut down the Amman headquarters of the country’s original Muslim Brotherhood group.

The Muslim Brotherhood in Jordan split in two in March last year in a dispute over whether to remain a branch of the parent movement in Egypt.

The group that cut ties is now called the Muslim Brotherhood Association and is licensed to operate, while the old Brotherhood is outlawed, although it said it severed links with the Egyptian Brotherhood this year.

A Jordanian security source said the movement’s headquarters were “closed on the order of the governor of the capital as the Brotherhood did not obtain legal authorisation” for its activities.

Staff were ordered to leave and the building was sealed. Another senior official said the judiciary had ruled that property be transferred from the outlawed Brotherhood to the legal entity.

The Muslim Brotherhood has operated in Jordan since 1946. It is close in ideology to the Egyptian group, has close links with Hamas in Gaza and enjoys support among Jordanians of Palestinian origin.

The group has demanded sweeping political reforms in Jordan but stops short of calling for the overthrow of the monarchy.

However, in line with Egypt and Gulf states including the UAE, where the Brotherhood is designated as a terrorist organisation, Jordan has tightened restrictions on the group in the past two years and banned its public rallies.

The Brotherhood’s second-in-command in Jordan, Zaki Bani Rsheid, was released from prison this year after an 18-month sentence for criticising the UAE’s decision to blacklist the organisation.

The group accuses the Jordanian authorities of trying to exploit divisions within the Brotherhood for political reasons.

Jordan is expected to hold legislative elections by early next year. The Brotherhood boycotted previous elections in 2010 and 2013.

Yesterday’s intervention by the security services “has the sole purpose of influencing the upcoming elections and results”, said a lawyer for the Brotherhood, Abdelkader Al Khatib.

“This is clearly a political decision in line with what is happening in the region.”

* Agence France-Presse, Reuters and Associated Press