RAMALLAH, Dec. 26 (Xinhua) -- At least four Hamas-affiliated Palestinian lawmakers, including the speaker Aziz Dweik, were stopped by security forces of the Palestinian Authority (PA) on Wednesday at a checkpoint near the West Bank's city of Bethlehem.

Dweik, also a member of the Islamic Hamas movement, told Xinhua that his car, along with three other members of the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC), was stopped at a PA security checkpoint in Al-Obeidiyah town.

They were forced to turn back to Hebron after an hour, he said.

The PA security forces spokesman Adnan Damiri said the security forces were "implementing the Palestinian court decisions," as "the constitutional court issued a decision to dissolve the PLC," official Palestinian news agency WAFA reported.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas announced on Saturday the decision of the Constitutional Court to dissolve the Palestinian Authority parliament, saying new parliamentary elections will be held within six months.

Islamic Hamas movement, which won the last parliamentary elections held in 2006, slammed the decision as a way to deepen the internal Palestinian division.

The PLC has been inoperative since after Hamas violently seized control of the Gaza Strip and routed Abbas security forces in the summer of 2007. Enditem

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