Jordan released four prisoners convicted of killing an Israeli army officer and a soldier.
Israel had turned the four men over to Jordan in 2007 to serve out their sentences closer to home as a good-will gesture to King Abdullah II. The transfer came with assurances from Jordan that the men would not be released before December 2009.
Wednesday’s release, reported by the Jordanian news agency Petra, was a result of public pressure after the recent prisoner exchange between Israel and Hezbollah, and Israel’s decision Monday to release 200 Palestinian prisoners to raise the profile of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
The Jordanian prisoners were convicted in Israel after infiltrating the border in 1991 and attacking army outposts and Jewish settlers in the West Bank.
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