Fundamentalist Gets Key Post in Jordan
A leader of the fundamentalist Muslim Brotherhood was elected to a one-year term as Jordan’s Parliament Speaker on Saturday, beating out an ally of King Hussein for the post.
Abdul-Latif Arabiyat, 48, defeated former Interior Minister Sulaiman Arar, who has been Speaker for the past year. The vote was 41 to 28, with 11 abstentions in the Chamber of Deputies.
The Brotherhood stands for the eradication of Israel and stricter Islamic laws in Jordan that would mean banning alcoholic beverages and closing nightclubs.
Arabiyat is also Speaker of the 22-man Muslim Brotherhood bloc in Parliament.
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