A preacher is arrested after posting an online video criticizing Jordan’s participation in the coalition battling the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria, a judicial source says.
The source, speaking on condition of anonymity, says the state security court placed Amjad Qursha in preventative detention for 15 days after the video was posted on YouTube.
In it, Qursha “criticized Jordan’s participation in the international coalition against the terrorist Daesh (IS) organization in Iraq and Syria,” the source says.
The 49-year-old preacher is accused of “having committed unauthorized acts… that could affect the kingdom’s relations with a friendly country,” a reference to the United States which heads the anti-IS coalition.
In the video, Qursha says Washington “compelled” Amman to join the coalition. “Unfortunately, our feeble and fragile government has led us into a war that has nothing to do with us,” he says.
The married father of five lectures at the University of Jordan’s sharia (Islamic law) faculty.He is known as a moderate who appears frequently in discussions on official radio and television channels.
— AFP
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