AMMAN, Jordan, June 13 (UPI) -- Jordan's Muslim Brotherhood Organization, traditionally allied to the regime, has accused the authorities of seeking to downsize it.
The Brotherhood's spiritual guide, Salem Fuleihat, told a press conference in Amman Tuesday that successive governments that had ruled in recent years followed the same policy of weakening the organization whose political arm, the Islamic Action Front, commands the largest opposition bloc in parliament, with 17 seats.
"The organization is being targeted through laws and legislations, starting with the election law based on a one man one vote, the law of public gatherings and other measures aimed at restricting the activities of the organization, be they social, charities and religious preaching," Fuleihat said.
He charged that the official campaign against the Islamic movement in Jordan gained momentum following Hamas' victory in Palestinian general elections, and which was applauded by the Jordanian Islamists.
Fuleihat also lashed out at the government's treatment of four Islamist legislators arrested after offering condolences to the family of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, head of al-Qaida in Iraq, who was killed in a U.S. raid east of Baghdad last Thursday.
He warned that the way the government dealt with the issue "will fuel internal tensions and political deadlock and lead to adverse consequences which Jordan should avoid at present."
The visit to Zarqawi's family resulted in strong criticism from a number of Jordanian political factions.
Fuleihat called on who he described as "the reasonable and wise" to stop the campaign of provocation and escalation of tension to avert strife and preserve higher national interests.
On Monday the Jordanian authorities referred the four Islamist legislators to justice on charges of stirring sectarian divisions and undermining national unity.
