Jordan Times
Friday, November 30, 2007
Prisoners freed by Syria welcomed home
By Mohammad Ben Hussein
AMMAN - A total of 18 Jordanians released on Thursday from Syrian prisons were
met by cheering relatives at Jaber border post, 100km north of Amman, according
to the Jordan News Agency, Petra.
Meanwhile, human rights activists called for releasing the nearly 200 Jordanians
still behind bars in the northern neighbour. Some of the prisoners, who include
more than 10 women, are jailed without trial, the activists said.
According to Abdul Karim Shraideh, head of the Jordanian Committee for Defending
Prisoners in Syria, there are at least 215 Jordanians in Syrian jails, some of
them incarcerated for around three decades.
He said most of them are imprisoned for political reasons, noting that all who
were released on Thursday were convicted for non-political offences.
The Associated Press said they were imprisoned for smuggling.
Shraideh said authorities have been provided with a detailed list of all
Jordanians believed to be in Syrian prisons.
On Wednesday, Minister of State for Media Affairs and Communications Nasser
Judeh said that a Jordanian-Syrian committee is following up on the issue of the
remaining prisoners in the two countries, in order to resolve it completely.
Earlier this month, Syrian President Bashar Assad instructed his government to
release a number of Jordanian prisoners following a landmark summit with His
Majesty King Abdullah on November 18.
Observers say the King’s historic visit to Syria signalled a breakthrough in
relations between the two countries, which resulted in marking a number of
agreements for signature at the meeting of the Joint Jordanian-Syrian Higher
Committee before the end of the year.