AMMAN (JT) — Four Islamist deputies were summoned by the prosecutor general on Sunday for questioning over comments “inciting violence,” government Spokesperson Nasser Judeh said.
In a statement carried by the Jordan News Agency, Petra, Judeh said the prosecutor ordered the four MPs from the Islamic Action Front (IAF), the political arm of the Muslim Brotherhood, held for further questioning on their comments praising dead Al Qaeda leader in Iraq Abu Mussab Zarqawi.
Earlier Sunday, Prime Minister Marouf Bakhit said the government would not tolerate any attempts to undermine the country’s stability, security and national unity.
Bakhit said the prosecutor general issued arrest warrants against the four deputies for violating the law and following complaints by many citizens, mainly relatives of victims of the Nov. 9 terror attacks. The attacks on three Amman hotels, claimed by Zarqawi’s group, left 60 dead and many others injured.
The victims’ families were infuriated by the four deputies’ statements praising Zarqawi, killed in a US raid in Iraq on Wednesday, as a “martyr” and a “holy warrior.”
The families are due to stage a sit-in in front of Parliament today in protest against the deputies’ visit on Friday to Zarqawi’s family in the central town of Zarqa, “to congratulate them on his martyrdom.”
They will also protest against comments made by one of these deputies, Mohammad Abu Fares (Amman Fifth District), saying “Zarqawi was a martyr and the November bombing victims were not.”
Such a statement, Bakhit told journalists, is intended to absolve Zarqawi from his guilt and encourage others to follow his “example in launching terror attacks on our sons and daughters.”
“They have installed themselves as the ones to decide who is a martyr and who is not. They decided that the innocent victims of the Amman bombings are not martyrs,” the premier said.
The government, the premier emphasised, will not allow anyone to use religion and mosque pulpits as a cover to incite violence and sedition.
Earlier in the day, legislators issued statements denouncing comments by the four MPs.
Senior parliamentarians sent a letter to His Majesty King Abdullah on Sunday in which they voiced their disapproval of the four MPs’ comments.
Senate President Zeid Rifai called on the IAF to “question” the deputies for their “criminal act.”
“We are pained to witness such a show of support for terrorists even after their death, and offering respects to those who spilled innocent Arab and Muslim blood,” Rifai said in a letter carried by Petra.
Lower House Speaker Abdul Hadi Majali was equally critical of the move.
“Those who glorify infidels have strayed from the right path,” said Majali.
A statement issued by Lower House members also decried the visit and the comments, describing Abu Fares’ comment as “unprecedented and dangerous.”
Another deputy who visited the family rejected the accusations, saying the visits were undertaken with good intentions.
“We did not go to make a political stand. It is our duty to support Zarqawi’s family at this time,” said Deputy Ali Abul Sukkar (Zarqa Second District).
“Our sympathies are with the families of the victims of the hotel bombings. When those attacks took place, we visited these families and supported them also,” he added.
In addition to Abul Sukkar and Abu Fares, Ibrahim Mashoukhi (Zarqa First District) and Jaafar Hourani (Zarqa Fourth District) visited the Zarqawi family.
Late Sunday, the Muslim Brotherhood issued a statement denouncing the deputies’ detention, describing it as “a violation of basic constitutional rights,” and called for their release.
“As we pay tribute to the memory of the innocent martyrs killed in the Amman bombings, we voice our total rejection of this manner of dealing with members of the Jordanian Parliament, which harms Jordan, its image and interests.”
Bakhit underlined that the move to question the deputies was not targeting the IAF, but rather those who violate the law. “Anyone else inciting violence would be arrested,” he warned.
JORDAN TIMES
Monday, June 12, 2006
Monday, June 12, 2006
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