Shimmari: Iraqi Government to release Jordanian prisoners inside Iraqi detentions
Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) The Iraqi Minister of Justice, Hassan al-Shimmari, confirmed that the Iraqi Government is determined to consider the Jordanian request to release the Jordanian prisoners through a special pardon.
A statement by the Ministry of Justice received by IraqiNews.com cited “Shimmari received the Jordanian Ambassador to Iraq, Mohamed Mustafa al-Qaraan, and the accompanied delegation,” noting that “Both sides stressed the necessity of upgrading bilateral relations between the two countries.”
“Shimmari assured the importance of preserving the relations and to avoid the sides that aim at hindering them,” the statement added.
“Shimmari expressed the Iraqi readiness to work according to Riyadh Agreement or to adopt the Arab Special Agreement to swap prisoners and to transfer the Jordanian prisoners to their country to spend the rest of their imprisonment there,” the statement continued.
“The Ambassador expressed his gratitude for the Iraqi Government for its adherence to consolidate relations,” the statement concluded.
Iraqi Governmental sources confirm that Iraq has 47 Jordanian prisoners inside the Iraqi prisons.
Earlier, Jordanian Premier Abdulla al-Nsour stated that Jordanian prisoners in Iraq will be transferred to Jordan soon to complete their verdicts.
Jordanian news agency added that Nsour said that the “Agreement nearly reached to final touches, just for formalities.”
“It is expected that the Iraqi side will inform the Jordanian government the dates of their release,” he concluded.
The Iraqi Ambassador to Jordan stressed on last Thursday that his government is keen on cooperating with the Jordanian Foreign Ministry to release Jordanians imprisoned in Iraq and conduct prisoner swap arrangements. Ambassador Jawad Abbas said in a special interview that Iraqi premier, Nouri al-Maliki’s latest visit to Jordan last December discussed the release of Jordanians imprisoned in Iraq and the possibility of extraditing prisoners to serve the rest of their sentences in Jordan.