Jordan Times
Wednesday, July 12, 2006
Bakhit, Islamists hold ‘important’ talks
Detained IAF MP released
By Rana Husseini and Khalid Nueimat
Mahmoud Al Abed contributed to this report
AMMAN — Prime Minister Marouf Bakhit on Tuesday
held “important and responsible” talks with overall leader of the Muslim
Brotherhood Salem Falahat and members of the Islamic Action Front (IAF).
During the meeting, Bakhit underlined “the sanctity of national constants that
unite all Jordanians,” the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.
The premier stressed that national interests “come first”.
“Commitment to national interests should be translated into practice as well as
true commitment to the Constitution, law and to the fight against takfiri
thought, which, has tarnished the image of the true Islam,” the prime minister
was quoted by Petra as saying.
Falahat and other Islamist leaders stressed their “absolute” commitment to
national constants and Jordan’s higher interests “under all circumstances”,
saying that they respected democracy and political pluralism and believed that
dialogue was the only way to solve disputes.
They also reiterated their condemnation of terrorism and takfiri ideology.
“The Islamic movement hopes to close the pending issue and see the spirit of
confidence enhanced in a way that strengthens national unity and security,” they
said in a statement.
Interior Minister Eid Fayez, Director of the General Intelligence Department
Major General Mohammad Dahabi and Government Spokesperson Nasser Judeh attended
the meeting, Petra said.
Meanwhile, the State Security Court (SSC) prosecutor on Tuesday released one of
the IAF deputies who was arrested in June after paying condolences to Abu Mussab
Zarqawi’s family in Zarqa, official sources said.
A senior judicial source told The Jordan Times that the prosecution decided to
release Deputy Ibrahim Mashoukhi (Zarqa, First District) “because his actions
did not constitute a crime”.
The military prosecution also referred IAF MPs Ali Abul Sukkar (Zarqa, Second
District), Mohammad Abu Fares (Amman, Fifth District) and Jaafar Hourani (Zarqa,
Fourth District) to the SSC for trial, although no date has yet been set, the
source added.
The deputies, who were arrested on June 11 will be tried on charges of “fuelling
national discord and inciting sectarianism.”
The SSC’s decision to arrest the lawmakers was made following Abu Fares’ remarks
that Al Qaeda leader in Iraq Zarqawi was a “martyr” and a “holy warrior”.
“The three deputies went together to the condolence tent and Abu Fares and Abul
Sukkar made statements praising Zarqawi while Deputy Hourani sat listening
without commenting or objecting about the statements,” a judicial source said.
During their meeting with Bakhit, the Islamist leaders rejected any statements
that hurt the feelings of the families of the Amman bombings’ victims.
In an Internet statement following the triple bombings of hotels in Amman on
November 9, 2005, Zarqawi claimed responsibility for the attacks that left 60
people dead, including the three suicide bombers.
The source added that investigations proved that MP Mashoukhi was not part of
the group and “arrived late to the tent and left quickly.”
The deputies’ visit to Zarqawi’s family to offer condolences triggered
nationwide condemnation and outrage; eight families of the 57 people killed in
the hotel bombings filed lawsuits against the deputies.
A poll released Sunday by the University of Jordan’s Centre for Strategic
Studies (CSS), revealed that a majority of Jordanians considered that a
condolence call by four Islamist deputies to Zarqawi’s family was politically
unacceptable.
“The government’s decision to arrest us was a big mistake because offering
condolences to a dead person is not a crime,” Mashoukhi told The Jordan Times on
Tuesday.
He added that the poll showed that over 35 per cent of the people surveyed by
the CSS did not find that visiting the condolence house constituted a crime.
“I really do not understand why they arrested us in the first place and why they
have released me today,” Mashoukhi said.
The deputies do not currently benefit from parliamentary immunity because the
Lower House is in recess.