New Brotherhood upbeat over efforts to woo members of old group

AMMAN — The new Muslim Brotherhood Society is optimistic over the outcomes of an initiative launched by its overall leader Abdul Majeed Thneibat on Thursday to reach out to members of the unlicensed Brotherhood group.

“We have met with certain leaders of the [old] group, and they showed their intent to help with the initiative,” Thneibat told The Jordan Times on Saturday, noting that the leaders he met with will start their internal negotiations in this regard.

In a statement issued over the weekend by the new Islamist entity, the overall leader said those who have followed the regional developments realise that the old tools of management adopted by the mother group are no longer workable.

These developments, he added, were noticed by those who sought to rectify the group’s legal position, which is the guarantee of sustainability and survival.

Abdul Latif Arabiyat, a former House speaker and veteran educator, is one of those leaders that the new society is counting on, according to Thneibat.

“We talked to Arabiyat along with other leaders to help us lobby other members of the old group,” he explained.

However, Arabiyat told The Jordan Times that the new society moulds itself in a frame that does not give a space for the activities of the old group.

“I will seek reconciliation and to have a formula that allows all to join,” he added.

Meanwhile, the veteran leader added that the old group is keen to have a dialogue with the government amidst a crackdown that has seen its offices closed in different cities. 

However, he noted that the government is not showing any intention for such a dialogue at present.

Two weeks ago, the authorities shut down the old Brotherhood's headquarters and their offices in several governorates. This measure came in implementation of judicial rulings to transfer properties of the “unlicensed” group to the rival splinter entity that was officially registered last year, according to officials.

The Muslim Brotherhood group was considered “illegal” after the registration of the society a year ago, following the first wave of defection within the movement, led by Thneibat, a former overall leader, whose group posed as the legitimate replacement of the mother group. 

By registering the society, the new entity effectively severed its ties with the Egypt-based mother group, a move that the old Brotherhood opposed.