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
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.
"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.