Jordan detains 4 members of Libya's Tripoli parliament

Jordanian authorities on Saturday detained four female members of Libya’s Tripoli-based parliament soon after they arrived at Queen Alia International Airport in capital Amman, one of the detained members has said.

Magda al-Falah told Anadolu Agency on the phone that she and three other female members of the General National Congress were denied entry into Jordan and detained at the airport.

She added that Jordanian authorities did not notify them about the reason why they were denied entry.

She said all detained lawmakers were members of the Islamist Justice and Construction Party.

“The detained women were part of a Libyan parliamentary delegation participating in a Libyan national dialogue workshop organized under the auspices of the United Nations,” al-Falah said.

She added that Jordanian authorities allowed other lawmakers to enter Jordan.

A Jordanian security source, meanwhile, said that the Libyan delegation included a total of eight members.

“Only five members were allowed to enter Jordan,” the source told AA.

He added that the authorities were investigating the identification papers of the remaining delegation members.

Libya has remained in a state of turmoil since a bloody uprising ended the decades-long rule of strongman Muammar Gaddafi in late 2011.

Since then, the country’s stark political divisions have yielded two rival seats of government, each with its own institutions and military capacities.

Vying for legislative authority are the Tobruk-based parliament and the Islamist-led parliament, which convenes in Tripoli.

The two assemblies support two rival governments respectively headquartered in the two cities.