Islamic groups oppose draft anti-terror law

Islamic groups in Jordan have rejected the government’s new draft anti-terror law saying that it intends to control religion as a measure for preventing further terror attacks in the country. “Instead of implementing anti-terror laws and preventing moderates from working and expressing freely, the government should try to look deeper and find the real reasons of terrorism,” suggested Abdul-Latif Arabiyyat, from the Islamic Action Front (IAF), the most important opposition party in the country, as a way of facing the challenge of combating terrorism. “We, as the moderates, are the ones qualified to educate people and fight against extremists positions due to injustice, corruption and poverty,” explained Arabiyyat. A new anti-terror draft law drawn up by the authorities immediately after the 9 November bomb attacks in the capital Amman, which killed 60 people and injured more than 100, lays down stiff punishments for anyone seen as condoning or supporting acts of “terror”. The Iraqi branch of the Islamic terrorist organisation Al-Qaeda claimed responsibility for the attacks. The new legal instrument, to be debated in parliament, would also persecute those Islamic clerics who pronounce others as infidels or issue fatwas without state permission. A recent study published by the International Crisis Group (ICG) think tank also raised concerns on new Jordanian security measures. The report underlined an “overly constricted political system, growing economic inequality, shrinking opportunities and anger at widespread corruption” as reasons for public sympathy in Jordan with Islamic militants. The ICG report suggested that new security measures in Jordan should be complemented by political, economic and cultural reforms “in order to minimise the risk of further attacks an instability”. But Jordan’s firm anti-terror proposals have also been a cause of disagreement within Islamic nations. In a summit of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), the world’s largest Islamic organisation, which took place this week in Saudi Arabia, some countries criticised Jordan’s statement saying that: “Islamic nations must fight terrorism”. Delegates from Qatar, for instance, suggested already that such tougher wording might be interpreted “as yielding to American pressure”.