Islamists hold closed-door meeting to settle differences

By Mohammad Ben Hussein

AMMAN - The Muslim Brotherhood in Jordan on Saturday held an internal meeting in hopes of overcoming growing differences within the group’s ranks.

Yesterday’s meeting was the first of two sessions gathering Muslim Brotherhood leaders from the movement’s shura council and executive office.

During yesterday’s closed-door meeting, so-called party hawks and doves discussed the group’s stance on a number of local and regional issues, according to a senior Islamist.

The meeting is meant to settle differences between the doves and hawks after nearly two years of divisions over the group’s ties with Hamas, participation in the recent parliamentary elections and relations with the government, according to the source, who requested anonymity.

According to Muslim Brotherhood Spokesperson Jameel Abu Baker, the gathering provided an opportunity for a “comprehensive dialogue” across the group’s ranks.

“We will have two sessions; the first was today, and the second will be held within a week. The agenda includes internal issues such as national unity and political reform, particularly the government’s stance on political parties,” Abu Baker told The Jordan Times over the phone on Saturday.

Issues of regional concern with a local impact were also discussed, particularly the peace process and reconciliation between Fateh and Hamas.

“Discussions touched on many local and regional issues of concern to the Islamist movement including the Arab-Israeli conflict and the siege on Gaza,” Abu Baker added.

The Muslim Brotherhood has witnessed a series of rifts between hawks and doves over the handling of a number of local and regional issues, divisions that threatened the unity of the group.

The hawks currently hold a slim majority of the group’s shura council, but the doves retain significant influence over the movement’s decision-making process.

Other issues on the agenda included the recent parliamentary elections, which were boycotted by the Islamic Action Front (IAF), the political wing of the Muslim Brotherhood.

The IAF has criticized the recent elections, claiming that the poll’s outcome was unrepresentative of the will of the people as it was held under what it alleges as an unfair one-person, one-vote system.

5 December 2010

Source: The Jordan Times.
Link: http://www.jordantimes.com/?news=32334.