Amman - Jordan's lower house of parliament is abanonding an attempt to sue Israeli leaders before the International Criminal Court (ICC) over the January offensive on the Gaza Strip because the chamber lacked "legal and constitutional powers," parliament speaker Abdul Hadi Majali was quoted on Monday as saying.

Majali made the revelation in a letter to the Islamic Action Front, Jordan's largest political party.

"The House of Representatives cannot go ahead with the move because it is not the constitutional authority which represents the state on the international level. This role lies with the government, particularly the Foreign Ministry," said Majali.

However Majali, a pro-government lawmaker, said in his letter that the chamber was still "interested in the completion of this step through a pan-Arab perspective."

He noted that the Arab summit in Kuwait in mid-January had asked the group to document the crimes Israel committed during its invasion of the Gaza Strip and "prepare a legal file to be forwarded to the world's legal bodies concerned with the trial of war criminals."

The Jordanian lower house decided unanimously in January to file a lawsuit before the ICC, accusing Israeli leaders of committing "war crimes" by launching the attack on the Gaza Strip that killed more than 1,300 people and wounded about 5,000. (dpa)