Jordan Times
Sunday, October 14, 2001

Premier-Islamists meeting a 'first step' to revive dialogue

By Alia Shukri Hamzeh

The meeting was the first since May between the head of the executive branch and leaders of the two most politically influential organisations in the country — the Muslim Brotherhood and its political arm, the Islamic Action Front.

Relations between both sides soured after the IAF held a public rally in defiance of a government ban on public manifestations.

Government officials told The Jordan Times on Saturday that the two-hour meeting, called for by Abul Ragheb to brief Islamists on local and international developments as well as current Jordanian efforts to counter international terrorism, was “very frank and friendly.”

The officials, who preferred not to be named, said both sides agreed on giving priority to protecting and safeguarding the Kingdom's stability and security.

They also agreed to hold similar meetings on a regular basis.

According to IAF Secretary General Abdul Latif Arabiyat, who attended the meeting along with Abdul Majid Thneibat, Jamil Abu Bakr and Hamzeh Mansour, the parties discussed recent letters written by the Brotherhood and the IAF to the government regarding the regression of freedom of expression in the Kingdom.

In its memo dated Oct. 8, the IAF called on the government to retract recent decisions related to the US-led anti-terrorism campaign, Al Aqsa Intifada and the arrests of party activists, saying such measures ran counter to religion and the interests of the people.

The memo said the IAF rejected the Kingdom's official stance towards the anti-terrorism campaign, adding that the US and its allies were largely responsible for a great deal of misery in the world and that their policies helped create environments that breed terrorism.

The memo also complained of recent arrests of party members and political activists and demanded their immediate release.

It called on the government to retract the temporary law on public gatherings and other such laws, saying these measures only heightened public frustration and have brought the Kingdom back to the martial law era.

The public rallies law, one of a dozen temporary laws endorsed since the dissolution of Parliament in June, stipulates that organisers of public events, rallies or marches must obtain official approval from the provincial governor to hold such events. The governor's response is irrevocable.

These temporary laws, the last of which was the controversial amendments to the Penal Code, were regarded as highly restrictive and a regression in the Kingdom's democratic march.

“We would have preferred that the meeting be held under different circumstances and especially before the government came out with a bundle of temporary laws that have shackled the country and brought it back to a state of martial law,” said IAF spokesperson Hamzeh Mansour.

“Dialogue however remains an important step, especially if it is aimed at improving or correcting errors,” he added.

Thursday evening's meeting however, has not dissuaded Islamists or their opposition counterparts from contesting the Kingdom's temporary law on public gatherings at the Higher Court of Justice.

“Nothing has changed, our measures remain our own prerogative,” said Arabiyat.

“We consider all temporary laws a violation of the Constitution,” he said, adding that IAF lawyer Zuhair Abul Ragheb, also a member of opposition parties' legal committee, will contest the law this week.

According to Mansour, the government has promised flexibility and leniency in dealing with such laws.

However, he said, “these promises are no guarantee, especially since this government or other ones to come can implement such harsh laws.”

IAF lawyer Abul Ragheb told The Jordan Times on Saturday that he was assigned by the Opposition Parties' Higher Coordination Committee to contest the public gatherings law at the Higher Court of Justice on the basis that it was unconstitutional and unwarranted.

The case will be filed on Monday, he added.

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