MP Tahboub withdraws lawsuit against MWB as members apologise

AMMAN — MP Dima Tahboub on Thursday withdrew a lawsuit which was recently lodged against the Mominoun (believers) Without Borders (MWB) group.

The Islamist MP previously filed a lawsuit against MWB for a conference it was planning to organise on contemporary religious narratives. 

The Interior Ministry cancelled the conference after receiving a complaint from Tahboub and MP Khalil Attyyeh who said that one of the papers scheduled to be discussed was offensive to God and the Islamic religion.

The Jordan News Agency, Petra, quoted a statement by the Lower House’s 13-member Islamist Reform bloc as saying that Tahboub, their spokesperson, withdrew the lawsuit against MWB after receiving apologies from people in charge of the research centre, which they posted on their social media accounts.

MWB Secretary General Younis Qandil, who was one of the conference’s organisers, was reported missing by his family on November 9, after the ministry cancelled the conference.

Qandil was later found in a forested area and close relatives claimed he was subjected to torture and burns by three hooded men.

A few days later, the Public Security Department (PSD) stated that Qandil had made up the entire story of abduction and torture.

At the time, PSD said its investigating team relied on a report by the National Institute of Forensic Medicine, which indicated that “Qandil’s torture marks on his back were fabricated”. Qandil then said that he fabricated the whole story.

Following PSD’s results and Qandil’s confession, some MWB’s members disowned him, saying that they were themselves cheated by their organisation’s secretary general.