Thursday, March 22, 2007
Iraqi Shias turned away from Jordan
Region
(Al Jazeera) - The Iranian influence on Shia communities in Iraq, Lebanon and other parts of the Muslim world has become a serious concern of the governments and people of Arab and Muslim countries. Accusations against Iran, of meddling in Arab countries' internal affairs using its influence among Shia Arabs, have been surging in the light of increasing indications that Shia Iran is promoting its sect among Sunni Arabs to boost its regional role.
In Jordan, a predominantly Sunni Muslim country, members of parliament have voiced their fears of some active Shia agents working on convincing poor Jordanian families to embrace the Shia sect. Khalid al-Bazaiya, a Jordanian MP, told Aljazeera.net: "We informed the prime minister. I cannot say we have the material evidence yet, however, we cannot say the Shia missionary activities do not exist in Jordan."
According to the Iraqi ministry of foreign affairs, many Iraqis were banned from entering Jordan in the past two weeks because they were Shia. Labid Abbawi, deputy minister of foreign affairs, said on Tuesday: "Iraqi nationals have been asked whether they were Sunni or Shia by Jordanian borders agents. We had dealt with this issue some months ago, and the Jordanian authorities responded quickly; we do not know why the same thing is happening again."
In Jordan, a predominantly Sunni Muslim country, members of parliament have voiced their fears of some active Shia agents working on convincing poor Jordanian families to embrace the Shia sect. Khalid al-Bazaiya, a Jordanian MP, told Aljazeera.net: "We informed the prime minister. I cannot say we have the material evidence yet, however, we cannot say the Shia missionary activities do not exist in Jordan."
According to the Iraqi ministry of foreign affairs, many Iraqis were banned from entering Jordan in the past two weeks because they were Shia. Labid Abbawi, deputy minister of foreign affairs, said on Tuesday: "Iraqi nationals have been asked whether they were Sunni or Shia by Jordanian borders agents. We had dealt with this issue some months ago, and the Jordanian authorities responded quickly; we do not know why the same thing is happening again."
Labels: Iran, Jordan, Khalid al-Bazaiya, Shias
