AMMAN
Jordan's Muslim Brotherhood has sacked three of its members for participating in a national dialogue initiative without permission from the group's leadership.
Jamal Dahesat, a co-founder of the "Zamzam" initiative, which seeks to foster national unity by bridging the gaps between Jordan's various socio-economic segments, said he had been verbally informed of his dismissal by the Muslim Brotherhood leadership.
"It was because I had participated in the initiative, which began last year," Dahesat told Anadolu Agency by phone on Sunday.
He said that Rheil Gharaibeh, the initiative's intellectual architect, along with initiative leader Nabil Kofahi, had also both been dismissed from the Brotherhood.
Initiative organizers described the move as "desperate."
"Punishing people who merely wish to promote national unity is a clear indication that some people still cherish notions of isolation," initiative organizers said in a statement.
Jordanian Brotherhood second-in-command Zaki Bani Arshid told Anadolu Agency earlier that the three men had been referred to an internal interrogation last December for participating in the Zamzam initiative without prior approval, in violation of the group's bylaws.
Around 500 prominent Jordanian personalities launched Zamzam in early October of last year to promote national unity within the context of "moderate" Islamic teachings.
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