Islamic Movement in Jordan Unveils Political Credentials

Jordanian protesters from the Islamic Action Front and other opposition parties hold a demonstration after Friday prayers in Amman in 2012. (AP)
Jordanian protesters from the Islamic Action Front and other opposition parties hold a demonstration after Friday prayers in Amman in 2012. (AP)
TT

Islamic Movement in Jordan Unveils Political Credentials

Jordanian protesters from the Islamic Action Front and other opposition parties hold a demonstration after Friday prayers in Amman in 2012. (AP)
Jordanian protesters from the Islamic Action Front and other opposition parties hold a demonstration after Friday prayers in Amman in 2012. (AP)

The Islamic Movement in Jordan announced on Monday its political credentials that included moderate positions that, unlike previous stands, did not criticize the authority of King Abdullah II.

Represented by the unlicensed Muslim Brotherhood and its political wing, the Islamic Action Front (IAF), the Movement had in the past adopted stances that stoked tensions and crises with the state.

However, on Monday, the movement’s new document included more flexible stances in dealing with internal reform. It also shied away from previous demands for constitutional amendments that tackle the authority of King Abdullah.

Asharq Al-Awsat learned that the Islamic Movement had asked the Change Movement, headed by former Prime Minister Ahmad Obeidat, to adopt the document’s ideology and to join the group.

Its request was, however, left unheeded and it decided to release its document away from the opposition stances declared by Obeidat.

On Monday, in its reference document, the Islamic Movement departed from its previous extremist approaches and instead, asked for securing the religious, political, social and media freedoms of all citizens.

The Movement also took a clear position from terrorism and extremism, something it avoided in the past, by calling on its members to adopt a moderate approach in their thoughts and practices.

“Extremism and radicalization are rejected and are condemned at the moral and human levels,” the document said.

The Islamic Movement also said it considered the Jordanian constitution as a “very important and advanced” document, which should be respected by everyone.



US Eases Restrictions on Syria While Keeping Sanctions in Place

 A worker stands at a bakery after the ousting of Syria's Bashar al-Assad, in Damascus, Syria, January 6, 2025. (Reuters)
A worker stands at a bakery after the ousting of Syria's Bashar al-Assad, in Damascus, Syria, January 6, 2025. (Reuters)
TT

US Eases Restrictions on Syria While Keeping Sanctions in Place

 A worker stands at a bakery after the ousting of Syria's Bashar al-Assad, in Damascus, Syria, January 6, 2025. (Reuters)
A worker stands at a bakery after the ousting of Syria's Bashar al-Assad, in Damascus, Syria, January 6, 2025. (Reuters)

The US on Monday eased some restrictions on Syria's transitional government to allow the entry of humanitarian aid after opposition factions ousted Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad last month.

The US Treasury issued a general license, lasting six months, that authorizes certain transactions with the Syrian government, including some energy sales and incidental transactions.

The move does not lift sanctions on the nation that has been battered by more than a decade of war, but indicates a limited show of US support for the new transitional government.

The general license underscores America's commitment to ensuring its sanctions “do not impede activities to meet basic human needs, including the provision of public services or humanitarian assistance,” a Treasury Department statement reads.

Since Assad's ouster, representatives from the nation's new de facto authorities have said that the new Syria will be inclusive and open to the world.

The US has gradually lifted some penalties since Assad departed Syria for protection in Russia. The Biden administration in December decided to drop a $10 million bounty it had offered for the capture of Ahmed al-Sharaa, the leader of the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group whose forces led the ouster of Assad last month.

The announcement followed a meeting in Damascus between al-Sharaa, who was once aligned with al-Qaeda, and the top US diplomat for the Middle East, Barbara Leaf, who led the first US diplomatic delegation into Syria since Assad’s ouster. The US and UN have long designated HTS as a terrorist organization.

HTS led a lightning insurgency that ousted Assad on Dec. 8 and ended his family’s decades-long rule. From 2011 until Assad’s downfall, Syria’s uprising and civil war killed an estimated 500,000 people.

Much of the world ended diplomatic relations with Assad because of his crackdown on protesters, and sanctioned him and his Russian and Iranian associates.

Syria’s infrastructure has been battered, with power cuts rampant in the country and some 90% of its population living in poverty. About half the population won’t know where its next meal will come from, as inflation surges.

The pressure to lift sanctions has mounted in recent years as aid agencies continue to cut programs due to donor fatigue and a massive 2023 earthquake that rocked Syria and Türkiye. The tremor killed over 59,000 people and destroyed critical infrastructure that couldn’t be fixed due to sanctions and overcompliance, despite the US announcing some humanitarian exemptions.