- Title: JORDAN: IAF warns of government crack down on group
- Date: 9th August 2007
- Summary: (MER1) AMMAN, JORDAN (AUGUST 7, 2007) (REUTERS) ZAKI BANI RUSHEID, THE HEAD OF THE ISLAMIC ACTION FRONT, SITTING BEHIND DESK BANI RUSHEID TALKING TO JOURNALIST MORE OF BANI RUSHEID TALKING TO JOURNALIST (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) ZAKI BANI RUSHEID, THE HEAD OF THE ISLAMIC ACTION FRONT, SAYING: "We are starting to sense the implementation of a real phased programme against the I
- Embargoed: 24th August 2007 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Jordan
- Country: Jordan
- Topics: Domestic Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA4UZCCXZPNHCLXIQQUDYVFXOF8
- Story Text: Leader of Jordan's main opposition party, the Islamic Action Front, warns that a government crackdown on the group would only radicalise Islamists and undermine security.
Jordan's powerful Islamist opposition party, the Islamic Action Front (IAF), says its campaign to advance political reforms is provoking a government crackdown on the group to foil any possible electoral gains in parliamentary polls later this year.
"We are starting to sense the implementation of a real phased programme against the Islamic movement. To be precise, I think this targeting is not only because we are Islamists, although it is part of the equation. The government has perhaps taken advantage of the international atmosphere of the so-called war against terrorism but the government is targeting us because we demand reform, we demand real participation, and ask for the limitation of oppression and dictatorship. If these demands were to come from any other popular movement, it would also be targeted in the same we that we are,"
said Zaki Bani Rusheid, the head of the IAF, which is the political arm of the Muslim Brotherhood and the main opposition party in Jordan.
The IAF withdrew from last week's municipal elections in Jordan and accused the government of fraud by allowing multiple voting by some military personnel. The government strongly denied the charge and accused the IAF of seeking to boost its position by tarnishing the state's reputation ahead of the more significant parliamentary elections in November.
Prime Minister Marouf Bakheet stepped up the rhetoric against the IAF leaders, accusing Rusheid of seeking to undermine the status quo and hinted he and the present generation of IAF leaders want to turn Jordan into a country of al-Qaeda inspired recruits.
Rusheid warned that any move to ban the mainstream Islamists would only empower more radical groups.
"The alternative to this movement, if it is excluded, will not be a movement that is more moderate but a movement that is more radical. To be precise, the alternative will be more extremism, terrorism, violent and extremist thinking that considers all those who don't adhere to a strict code of Islam as infidels will seize the opportunity. This void will not be filled by other moderates, but with other extremists. Does the government want this option? This is a question that must be directed at the government," he said.
Many believe the government and the Islamists are on a collision course that could see the IAF declared illegal as fears mount in the political establishment with the approach of multi-party parliamentary elections later this year.
The elections are due after the four-year term of the current assembly in which the Islamists held 17 of 110 seats ended in June.
Independent analysts say the authorities fear the IAF could score electoral gains similar to their Hamas ally in the Palestinian territories and Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood.
Rusheid says the IAF seeks political change through peaceful means, including an elected government.
"These measures are not the solution to the crisis that the government is suffering from. I want to affirm that the government created this crisis itself, and we will not treat it the way it treats us or be vocal in the press. The issue is a political one. Is the government capable or willing to find a solution to national unity? From our side we are ready to contribute and participate in the solution but my estimation is that the government is not looking for political partners. It is looking for followers and when opposition political parties permit themselves to become followers they lose their justification for existence and become one of the tools of the executive power," Bani Rusheid said.
The IAF has 17 seats in the 110-member parliament. But the group has lost much of its clout in recent years for failing to deliver on pledges to address rampant unemployment and poverty. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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