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Six Jordanian opposition parties called on the government on Tuesday to withdraw from a U.S.-led coalition launched to fight the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) militant group.
"Jordan should not be involved in this coalition, which aims to redraw the map of the region," read a joint statement issued by the six parties.
The parties asserted that combatting terrorism in Jordan required a commitment to democracy and internal reform, going on to urge Amman not to subject itself to the "dangers of redrawing the region on sectarian, ethnic and racial lines."
The statement came only one day after King Abdullah II said at a meeting with 15 MPs that Jordan's membership in the anti-ISIL coalition would "contribute to protecting Jordanian interests and bolstering security amid the chaos currently afflicting the entire region."
For his part, Jordanian Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Khaled al-Kalaldeh told Anadolu Agency that Jordan was mulling possible participation in ground operations against the militant group.
The six nationalist and leftist parties that signed the statement belong to the Coordination Committee for Jordanian Opposition Parties, an opposition umbrella group.
Statement signatories include the Democratic Popular Unity Party, the Progressive Baath Party, the Socialist Baath Party, the Communist Party, the Democratic People's Party and the National Movement Party.
ISIL recently captured large swathes of territory in both Iraq and Syria, where they declared a cross-border Islamic "caliphate," killing thousands and displacing hundreds of thousands in the process, according to U.N. estimates.
Meanwhile, a U.S.-led air campaign against ISIL targets in Iraq and Syria – supported by several Western and Arab states – remains ongoing.
Since mid-June, when the militant group seized Mosul, Iraq's second largest city, fierce battles have raged between Iraqi government forces and Kurdish Peshmerga fighters on one hand and ISIL militants on the other.
By Hamza al-Ekila
englishnews@aa.com.tr
www.aa.com.tr/en - Amman
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