Jordanian delegation withdraws from security conference in seating protest 

The Jordanian parliamentary delegation has withdrawn from a conference in Luxembourg in protest at having to sit next to Israeli representatives.

The head of the delegation, Assistant Speaker of the House of Representatives Ibrahim Al-Qara’an MP, said that he and his colleagues were surprised that the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) had placed them at the same as the Israelis.

Attempts to have the seating arrangements altered, explained fellow delegate Khaled Abu Hassan MP, failed to convince the organisers. The group from Jordan, he said, were left with no option but to withdraw. “This decision was based on our principles and ethics and our noble religion that does not allow us to sit with the occupier of our holy sites [in Jerusalem].”

As many as 56 states were represented at the conference, which focused on conflict prevention, crisis management and post-conflict rehabilitation.

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