By Ali Sabri, IOL Jordan Correspondent

AMMAN, December 1 (IslamOnline) - Chairman of the Jordanian Bar Association stressed Sunday, December 1, that the special bureau for interpretation of laws decision on dissolving anti-normalization union bodies is not final or effective yet, adding that a legal committee was formed to study the verdict’s legality.

"We have reservations about that decision. First, the decision has not yet been turned into a law, as it has yet to complete its legal procession. Besides, the texts covered by the decision have nothing to do with the anti-normalization committees," Lawyer Salah el-Armuti told IslamOnline.

He added that the Ministry of Interior demanded the decision, and that was not its jurisdiction. "All these factors are ground enough to deem the decision illegal".

El-Armuti ruled out the possibility of stopping policies of anti-normalization (with Israel), arguing that opposing normalized ties with Israel "is a constitutional right for all citizens.

"As part of the Arab unions, one of our goals is to oppose Zionism and normalization with Israel".

On Thursday, November 28, the Jordanian special bureau for interpretation of laws ruled that trade unions committees which opposed normalized ties with Israel were illegal, allowing the government to dissolve them.

The unions have become leading voices of the opposition and a focus of political activity after parliament was dissolved in June 2001. New legislative elections have yet to take place.

At least half of Jordanian unions, which have more than 100,000 members, are dominated by the main opposition Muslim Brotherhood which fiercely opposes ties with the Jewish state and the 1994 Israel-Jordan peace treaty.

Jordanian Prime Minister Ali Abu Ragheb met with union leaders Thursday, November 29, following the decision and pressed them to step into line.

"The decision by the special bureau for interpretation of laws that views anti-normalization committees as unlawful has settled the issue and it is no longer possible to undertake such activity under any pretext," Ragheb was quoted by the official Petra news agency as saying.

The government has urged unions in the past to stay out of politics and the move was seen in Jordan as a new measure aimed at muzzling the opposition, which has been increasingly critical of the government's stance on Israel.

The presiding council of the engineers' union and all lower committees were also dissolved by the court after members complained of electoral irregularities.

Ali Abu Sukkar, the Engineer Union's Secretary General and two fellow members detained since October 8, were released Thursday on bail.

Abu Sukkar told IslamOnline that he considered the anti-normalization committee dissolved.

However, he added that "the (anti-normalization) process has become an integral part of the Jordanian street.

"One committee was dissolved, not all committees. Other anti-normalization platforms still operate".

In its decision, the special bureau for interpretation of laws stressed that nothing in union by-laws "permits ... the creation of any committee for political activity.

"The creation of an anti-normalization committee within the engineers union has no legal foundation," Petra quoted the bureau as saying.

The government has accused such committees of intimidating Jordanians involved in trade with Israel, claiming such actions harm the economy.

Tempers have run high within the unions since the start of the Palestinian Intifada in September 2000, especially because around 60 percent of Jordan's population is of Palestinian origin.

They have regularly called on the government to suspend all ties with Israel.

In January 2001, the committees published a "black list" of individuals and companies dealing with Israel, prompting authorities to arrest eight union leaders and accuse them of belonging to illegal associations. They were released on bail a few days later.