New Brotherhood says it can live with international isolation

AMMAN — Leaders of the newly established Muslim Brotherhood association said they represent the ideology of the organisation and it is not necessary for them to be affiliated with the international group.

Abdul Majeed Thneibat, overall leader of the group, explained: “We are a Jordanian association sharing the same ideology of the international organisation,” he said in response to news reports quoting leaders of the international Muslim Brotherhood as disavowing the newly established association, after a successful re-licensing bid led by reformists, renewing support for the ousted overall leaders, Hammam Saeed, as the only leader of the group in Jordan.

Thneibat told The Jordan Times Tuesday that if the international organisation “does not want to have ties with us because we rectified the legal status of the [Jordan Brotherhood]; we can live with that”. 

Meanwhile, the shura council of the old guard headed by Saeed, met late on Monday and condemned, unanimously, the birth of the new association charging that this came in context of plots against the movement.

In a statement sent to The Jordan Times, the shura council labelled the re-registration of the new association as a “coup” assisted by the government to target the Brotherhood legitimacy.

The statement added that a proposal by Saeed to restructure the group’s executive office was discussed at the meeting in addition to amendments related to the group’s statute. However, no decision has been made on these proposals and discussions will be resumed on March 19, according to the group’s spokesperson Muath Khawaldeh.