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Hosni Mubarak told the UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher that the King Hussain didn’t have enough courage to deny the Islamists –including the Muslim Brotherhood- the ability to widen their influence in Jordan, according to British documents.
The declassified documents, accessed by MEMO to in the National Archives, reveal the late King was hesitant to take the “bold” action suggested by the late Egyptian President.
During late 1980s and early 1990s, the Jordanian monarch faced growing challenges due to the increasing popularity of Islamists.
In February 1989, Jordanians were invited, for the first time in 22 years, to vote in elections for a new House of Deputies, the lower house of parliament. Due to a 1963 ban on political parties, the elections were contested only by independent candidates. At the time, many Jordanian cities witnessed riots sparked by rising living costs and price increases. Meanwhile, Jordan was under severe economic and diplomatic strain as a result of the Gulf crisis following Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait.
The fairness of the elections was acknowledged both internationally and domestically, by winners and losers alike. Despite the authorities’ campaign against the Muslim Brotherhood prior to the vote, its unified list of candidates performed remarkably well. Twenty-two of its 32 candidates won seats—securing more than 25 percent of the 80-member parliament. It had been widely expected that the Brotherhood would win only 10 to 15 seats.
READ: Saddam ‘used’ Jordan’s King Hussein against Egypt ahead of Kuwait invasion, UK documents show
Before the election, Hussein said that reviving democracy was bound to yield both negative as well as positive outcomes, and he stressed the importance of allowing the long-anticipated freedom of expression and liberties. The King appealed to voters to separate religion from politics after the Muslim Brotherhood’s unified list adopted the slogan “Islam is the Solution.”
In the 1989 elections, the MB list achieved remarkable success, winning 22 of the 80 seats.
Two days after the vote, King Hussein pledged to continue the process of reform and democratization.
The Muslim Brotherhood was founded in Jordan in November 1945. The following year, it received an official license from the Jordanian government as a charitable association affiliated with the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood.
In May 1990, during a meeting in London between Thatcher and the Egyptian President, the British leader expressed her “grief” over what she described as the “difficult time” King Hussein was facing, according to Foreign and Commonwealth Office records.
Mubarak blamed the King, arguing that Hussein “made a terrible mess” of the 1989 election by “allowing the fundamentalists far too much influence.” The Egyptian President added that the approach Hussein should take to curb Islamist political momentum in Jordanian society was to “find a pretext to dissolve” the newly elected parliament. Such a step, he argued, would allow the King to “start all over again.”
The records of the meeting do not specify whether Mubarak gave this advice directly to King Hussein. However, it notes that Mubarak believed the King had “lost the nerve for this sort of bold stroke.”
Mubarak also indicated that he had tried to mobilize economic support for King Hussein to ease the pressure caused by public discontent. He told Thatcher he had urged Saudi Arabia to assist the Jordanian monarch financially, but there was no response, as such a decision “rested with King Fahd alone.” Mubarak explained that all decisions regarding subventions to other Arab states had to be made by the Saudi king himself.
Fifteen years later, Mubarak’s own regime allowed members of the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood to compete as independents in Egypt’s 2005 general election. Among them was the late President Mohammed Morsi.
The ruling National Democratic Party, led by Mubarak, secured an overwhelming majority of seats. However, the Brotherhood candidates achieved remarkable success, winning 80 seats—about 20 percent of the Parliament—marking a dramatic gain compared to previous elections.
Five years later, Mubarak’s regime rigged the 2010 elections to prevent Islamists and other opposition candidates from returning to parliament.
The Muslim Brotherhood and the Wafd Party—the second-largest opposition group—boycotted the second-round vote, alleging widespread fraud in the first round.
The US and EU criticized the conduct of the election, but Egyptian authorities denied any interference.
As a result, the Muslim Brotherhood—the most powerful opposition group in the outgoing parliament—was left with no representation in the new legislature. This was one of the reasons behind the widespread public anger that contributed to the 2011 revolution, which eventually toppled Hosni Mubarak.
In April 2025, Jordan banned the Muslim Brotherhood for allegedly planning rocket and drone attacks.
The government decided the closure of all of the MB’s office and the confiscation of its assets. All activities of the MB were considered illegal.
However, the Islamic Action Front, the organisation’s political wing, was not officially banned, but its headquarters was raided and the authorities are closely monitoring activities.
The MB has denied any involvement in the alleged plot and maintains its commitment to peaceful methods.
The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Monitor.