Three thousand Jordanians demonstrated yesterday against four Islamist lawmakers who last week extended condolences to the family of the slain Al-Qaeda leader in Iraq Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi. Demonstrators chanted slogans and carried placards dubbing the MPs as “terrorists” and calling for their expulsion from the House of Representatives.The demonstration took off from the Parliament’s premises and ended in front of the Radisson SAS, one of three hotels which were targeted by the Nov. 9 suicide bombings that killed 60 civilians and wounded more than 90 others. The blasts were claimed by Zarqawi’s group, the Jihad and Tawhid Brigades.
The four deputies, who belong to the Islamic Action Front (IAF), visited a tent that was set up last week in Zarqawi’s home city of Zarqa, 30 kilometers east of Amman, to receive condolences upon the passing away of the Al-Qaeda leader who was killed in a US airstrike in Iraq. One of the lawmakers, Mohammad Abu Fares, went further to describe Zarqawi in a Friday sermon as a “martyr”. The four MPs have been charged with “incitement to terrorism” for their visit. On Monday the military prosecutor ordered that the MPs -Abu Fares, Jaafar Horani, Ibrahim Mashukhi and Ali Abu Sukkar — be held in custody for 15 days.