A possible confrontation between the Muslim Brotherhood group in Jordan and the government was avoided through an uneasy truce, with both parties opting to take a step back in preparation for their next move. On April 30, a day before the group was to hold a public rally in an Amman suburb to mark seven decades of existence, the leadership acquiesced to government warnings and postponed the event indefinitely.
A last-minute meeting between representatives of the group and the minister of interior convinced the Muslim Brotherhood leadership that the government was serious about its decision to ban the rally and that it would use all available means to prevent it from taking place. But what is particularly interesting is that the governor of Amman, who delivered a stern message to the group ordering it to stop the event, also said that the new Brotherhood had applied for permission using the name and insignia of an existing society. This was the closest the government has ever come to hinting that the 70-year-old group was now illegal or unlicensed.
