 JERUSALEM - The Israeli cabinet on Sunday approved a proposal to transfer four Jordanians serving life sentences to Jordan to complete their prison time in their home country, a government source said. ‘The cabinet approved the prime minister’s proposal to release four Jordanian prisoners to complete their life term in Jordan,’ the official said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak to the media.
An Israeli court sentenced the four to life in jail for killing two Israeli soldiers in November 1990, four years before the two neighbouring states signed a peace treaty.
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Prime Minister Ehud Olmert put the proposal before the cabinet as a goodwill gesture to Jordan’s King Abdullah II who had asked that the prisoners be allowed to complete their sentence in a Jordanian jail. ‘Jordan gave Israel a commitment that the king would not pardon the four during the next 18 months,’ a senior government source said.
Following the cabinet approval, the four Jordanians are now expected to be transferred on Tuesday or Wednesday, the official added. |