Brotherhood's shura council lashes out at newly formed group

AMMAN — The Muslim Brotherhood old guard on Sunday accused the newly licensed group, that holds the same name, of leading a coup targeting the movement’s legitimacy.

In a statement sent to The Jordan Times and signed by Nawaf Obeidat, president of the shura council, the old guard accused Abdul Majeed Thneibat, the overall leader of the newly established Brotherhood association, and his group of targeting the legitimacy and existence of the movement with “the support of official government bodies”.

Although the original Muslim Brotherhood, led by Hammam Saeed, has made this statement many times, this is the first time the shura council, the movement's highest decision-making body, has issued an official statement with these accusations.

The crisis of the Muslim Brotherhood started after authorities approved a re-registration application filed by the "reformist wing" of the Kingdom's largest opposition group.

The move was led by Thneibat, who sought and succeeded in separating the Jordanian branch of the Brotherhood from its Egypt mother group after decades of presence in that capacity.

Responding to accusations by the old guard, Thneibat told The Jordan Times that the law is the arbiter in this case and “we are the legal group now.”

“If they accuse us of being illegitimate for following the country’s laws, let them say it,” Thneibat added.

The Muslim Brotherhood-Jordan was licensed in 1946 as a charity affiliated with the mother group in Egypt and re-licensed in 1953 as an Islamic society.