Jordan Detains MPs For Pro-Zarqawi Sentiment

AMMAN (Reuters) – Jordan detained four mainstream Islamist deputies for allegedly voicing sympathy for the slain al Qaeda leader in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, officials said on Sunday. The four deputies were questioned by the prosecutor general and detained over statements they gave in support of Jordanian militant Zarqawi, killed on Wednesday in a joint U.S.-Iraqi operation helped by tip-offs from Jordanian intelligence.

“They were held for questioning by the prosecutor general and detained,” government spokesperson Nasser Joudeh told Reuters without elaborating.

One of the deputies, Mohammed Abu Faris, had attended prayers for Zarqawi’s soul during Friday prayers in the militant’s birthplace in the industrial city of Zarqa, 25 km (16 miles) northeast of Amman, and called him a “martyr”, witnesses said. The three other deputies in custody had visited his family in Zarqa and offered their condolences.

Zarqawi’s family received hundreds of wellwishers who flocked to a tent set up near their home in the working class city to pay their respects….

“These deputies should have parliamentary immunity and this shows how much the authorities have regard for democracy,” Zaki Bani Rusheid, the head of the Islamic Action Front (IAF), the largest political bloc in the 110-member parliament whom the four deputies are members. [source]

Sadly he’s right, they do have parliamentary immunity. It’s strange that Zaki Bani Rusheid speaks up no in protest when not a word was heard when these people went to a funeral to praise a terrorist that killed 60 of our citizens. I’m glad the families of those victims spoke up in protest.

Meanwhile, Batir is just as pissed as I am at these guys and reports on a sit-in in front of the parliament today (Monday) at 11am. Times like these I wish I was one ocean closer.

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