AMMAN // The spokesman for Jordan's largest opposition bloc - the powerful Muslim Brotherhood - says the group will boycott the country's November 9 parliamentary elections. Jamil Abu-Bakr says the decision was a consequence of an electoral law, introduced in May, that undermined the Brotherhood. The Brotherhood has held nearly half the seats in parliament for the last decade. But the new legislation has reduced seats elected from urban areas, where the Brotherhood holds sway, and increased those from rural regions, dominated by pro-government Bedouin tribes.
Abu-Bakr said today that the Brotherhood also recommended its political arm, the Islamic Action Front, stay away from the polls. IAF will give its decision tomorrow. * AP