Jordanian opposition urge government to leave 'sectarian' anti-IS coalition

Six Jordanian opposition parties on Tuesday called for their government to withdraw from the US-led coalition launched to battle the Islamic State (IS) militant group.

Six nationalist and leftist parties signed a statement warning the anti-IS coalition aims to redraw “the region on sectarian, ethnic and racial lines.”

“Jordan should not be involved in this coalition, which aims to redraw the map of the region,” read the joint statement.

Signatories included 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.

They urged Jordan to fight domestic terrorism by being committed to democracy and internal reform.

Their statement on Tuesday came a day after King Abdullah II told a meeting of 15 Jordanian MPs their membership of the anti-IS coalition would “contribute to protecting Jordanian interests and bolstering security amid the chaos currently afflicting the entire region.”

Jordanian Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Khaled al-Kalaldeh told Anadolu Agency Jordan is also considering possible participation in ground operations against the IS group.

IS controls large areas of Iraq and Syria, where they have declared an “Islamic caliphate”. A US-led coalition involving a number of regional states has bombarded the group with airstrikes in recent weeks, although IS has continued to gain ground in western Iraq and retain Syrian territory under their control.