Jordanian parliamentarians criticized a number of deputies from the Islamic Action Front (IAF) for paying their respects to the family of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi during a visit to a tent erected in Zarqa to "celebrate his martyrdom".

"This is an absolutely and unacceptable act of provocation by those deputies," Mamdouh Abbadi, one of the parliamentarians, was quoted by the Jordan Times newspaper on Sunday.

Four deputies from the IAF, the largest opposition party in Jordan, visited the tent on Friday, and said it was their "duty and obligation towards a Jordanian family who had lost one of its members."

The Jordanian-born al-Zarqawi was the most wanted Al-Qaida insurgent in Iraq because of his crimes he claimed responsibility, especially the November 2005 terrorist attacks in Amman, which killed more than 60 people.

"How can they face families of the victims who were killed in last year's bombings after offering condolences to the man who claimed to have killed them?" said the parliamentarians.

The families of the victims of the November attacks issued a statement Saturday condemning the visit of the four deputies, describing it as a "clear blessing of and support for criminal actions."

However, one of the four deputies who visited the tent rejected the accusations, saying the visits were undertaken with good intentions.

"We did not go to make a political stand. It is our duty to support Zarqawi's family at this time," said Ali Abul Sukkar.

Zarqawi and seven of his top aides were killed in a U.S. airstrike north of Baghdad on Wednesday.

The family of Zarqawi had asked three Islamist lawmakers in Jordan to intervene with the government to bring his body back home for burial.

The government has so far refused to allow Zarqawi to be buried in Jordan.

Source: Xinhua