FRANCE PRESS

AMMAN: Opposition Islamists Sunday told Jordan’s prime minister-designate that intelligence services and the palace should not interfere in government affairs.
A day after refusing to join the reform-mandated government of Awn Khasawneh, an International Court of Justice judge named by the king, the powerful Muslim Brotherhood and its political arm Islamic Action Front listed 17 demands for reform.

“Interferences by the intelligence department and the royal court should stop in order to ensure the government has full executive powers in line with the constitution,” Muslim Brotherhood leader Hammam Said and IAF chief Hamzeh Mansur told Khasawneh in a letter.

“Security departments should stop interfering in civil and political life, particularly in mosques, universities, charities, and in appointing and promoting people.”
Demanding more constitutional reforms, the Islamists called on the government to “bridge the gap between citizens and state institutions that has recently widened due to repression and corruption.”

Calling for a “rational and wise” economic plan, the movement urged the government to “open dialogue with local political powers, enhance freedoms and protect pro-reform protesters from intimidation and attack.”
On Saturday, the Muslim Brotherhood and the IAF said they would not join the government because the “circumstances are not ripe.”

“Pessimism replaced our original satisfaction because, according to leaks, it seems the new government will resemble its predecessors,” the Brotherhood said.
King Abdullah II last week dismissed the government of Prime Minister Maaruf Bakhit and replaced him with Khasawneh, 61, instructing him to focus on political reform in Jordan.

Khasawneh is expected to announce his government Monday, according to officials.
In separate developments Sunday, The United States and Jordan signed a $250 million agreement under a “small and medium enterprise eloan guarantess program” to support the cash-strapped kingdom’s economy.