Jordan bans Bahá'í ceremony in Amman

Amman Governor Saad Shihab banned a religious ceremony that the Bahá'í community in Jordan had planned to go ahead with earlier today.

Shihab told Roya that he rejected an application made by members of the Bahá'í community to mark the 200th anniversary of the death of their spiritual leader, Baha'U'llah.

In answer to the question about whether this was a violation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Jordanian Constitution, Shihab said that the government has the right to ban any ceremony that might "trigger conflict or affect the country's national unity."

Baha’ism is considered to be the third religion in Jordan, after Islam and Christianity. Unofficial sources estimate that there are more than 1000 Baha’is in Jordan.