Ammon News - AMMONNEWS - Hundreds of Jordanian imams have threatened to strike and stop delivering Friday prayer sermons if the government goes ahead with plans to recruit Egyptian imams.

"Jordan is full of imams who are qualified to do the job, and if all imams are employed and there are empty vacancies, only then there will be no problem to resort to other countries," Dhiab Abu Seeni, a leading figure in the independent imams syndicate, told Anadolu Agency.

He said their syndicate will stage two nationwide strikes on March 31 and April 7 to opposition to the Awqaf Ministry's plans to enlist Egyptian imams.

Last month, the Ministry announced plans to contract 50 Egyptian imams per year to meet the kingdom's shortage of about 4,600 imams.

But Jordanian imams blasted the plan, accusing the government of dragging its feet on ratifying a law to regulate their syndicate's work.

Abu Seeni said their planned strikes would be part of a larger campaign to pressure the ministry into meeting their demands.

Jordanian Awqaf Minister Hayel Dawoud has criticized the imams' strike threat and urged them to seek dialogue instead.

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