Expelled members of Jordan’s Muslim Brotherhood on Friday announced the appointment of Abdel-Maguid Zunaibat as the group’s new general guide following the legalization of the group’s status.

Expelled members of Jordan's Muslim Brotherhood on Friday announced the appointment of Abdel-Maguid Zunaibat as the group's new general guide following the legalization of the group's status.

"A new executive bureau for the group has been formed," Zunaibat said at a press conference in Amman that saw the attendance of several former Brotherhood members who were previously expelled from the group.

The executive bureau is now "the legal representative of the Muslim Brotherhood [in Jordan] after the group had its status legalized and ended its allegiance to the mother organization in Egypt, which has been designated a terrorist group by the Egyptian government," Zunaibat said.

"An agreement was reached by several group members to name a new general guide who will be me," Zunaibat added.

On Tuesday, Jordan's Ministry of Social Development approved registration of the "Muslim Brotherhood Group" under the provisions of the country's NGO law.

The Brotherhood's current leadership, meanwhile, maintains that the group does not require legalization "since it has been registered since 1953" – an assertion dismissed by the government.

Zunaibat said the legalization move was meant to "protect the group" by "setting it on firm ground legally, politically and administratively."

Rifts have emerged within Jordan's Muslim Brotherhood since 2014, when a number of senior group members joined an initiative with other Jordanian political forces without the permission of the group's leadership.