Jordan Times
Friday, June 30, 2006
Majority of MPs want IAF apology — Majali
By Mohammad Ben Hussein
AMMAN — Lower House Speaker Abdul Hadi Majali on Thursday said “the majority” of MPs want the Islamic Action Front (IAF) to “apologise to the Jordanian people,” for the “mistake” four of its members made by offering condolences to Abu Mussab Zarqawi’s family as well as remarks praising him as a “martyr” and a “holy warrior.”
Majali issued the statement a day after concluding a series of meetings with Lower House blocs and independent MPs to reach an understanding on how Parliament should handle the current situation.
After “thorough and sensitive” talks with deputies, it was agreed that the House would wait until the court issues a ruling in the case before taking any action, Majali said in a statement received by The Jordan Times.
Some conservative MPs said they were considering expelling the deputies in question from Parliament. But parliamentarians later dismissed the move as “propaganda.”
The State Security Court (SSC) charged the deputies with “fuelling national discord and inciting sectarianism” on June 11. They were detained at Al Jafer prison for 15 days for more questioning.
On Monday, the state prosecutor ordered the detention to be renewed for another 15 days, “a routine procedure that is usually taken by the SSC prosecutor when the interrogation process is not complete.”
The deputies have pleaded not guilty to the charges.
“The [IAF], of which the MPs are members, must announce allegiance to Jordan and its Hashemite leadership and renounce all terrorist acts by Zarqawi and all forms of terrorism,” Majali said in the statement.
The IAF said it would not apologise and called on the Parliament to distance itself from “this political farce.”
“We will not apologise, let them find anther way of solving the problem,” said IAF Secretary General Zaki Bani Rsheid, who criticised the Parliament for taking the government’s side.
“In whose name Majali is talking? He does not represent the whole nation,” Bani Rsheid told The Jordan Times on Thursday.
The MPs are Ali Abul Sukkar (Zarqa, Second District), Mohammad Abu Fares (Amman, Fifth District), Ibrahim Mashoukhi (Zarqa, First District) and Jaafar Hourani (Zarqa, Fourth District).
During a meeting with Majali on Wednesday, IAF deputies complained of the “unfair treatment” suffered by their fellow MPs in the wake of their visit.
“Majali was surprised to learn that at least 11 other deputies visited the Zarqawi family to offer their condolences, but only four of our colleagues were prosecuted,” said Deputy Zuheir Abul Ragheb (Amman, Third District), one of the IAF’s 17 parliamentarians.
During a meeting with political party leaders on Monday, Prime Minister Marouf Bakhit said the detention of the four deputies was legal “because these MPs violated Jordanian constants in a way that would adversely affect the security of the society.”
The remarks made by the lawmakers “provoked Jordanians and hurt the feelings of the public, especially those who lost their loved ones,” Bakhit told party leaders.