Jordan frees killers of Israeli soldiers

0 Comments | AFP, August, 2008

AMMAN (AFP) — Four Jordanian prisoners handed over by Israel last year to complete their life sentences in the kingdom were released from a jail north of the capital Amman on Wednesday.

The four, who were convicted of killing two Israeli soldiers in November 1990 four years before Israel and Jordan signed a peace treaty, received a hero's welcome from relatives as they walked out of Qafqafa prison carrying Jordanian flags.

Jordan's Islamist-dominated trade unions said they were planning a festival later on Wednesday to celebrate the release of the prisoners, who were transferred by Israel in July 2007 in a goodwill gesture to King Abdullah II.

Under Jordanian law, a life sentence is equivalent to 25 years in prison and a "year" of jail in the kingdom...