Jordan 'considering' prisoner swap with Egypt 

(MENAFN - Jordan Times) Jordan is considering an Egyptian request for a prisoner swap, but no final agreement has been made, pending the completion of legal procedures concerning agreements covering the issue, a justice ministry official said.

He said that Jordan, in principle, does not mind exchanging prisoners with Arab and "friendly" countries so as to allow the families of the convicted in both sides to visit their relatives.

The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, was commenting on Egyptian media reports saying that a prisoner swap deal has already been reached between Amman and Cairo.

The reports quoted Egyptian Deputy Foreign Minister Ahmad Ragheb as saying that Jordan has agreed to allow 50 Egyptian prisoners in Jordanian jails to finish their prison terms in their country.

"The Egyptian prisoners have been charged with security-related crimes. We agreed with the Jordanian government to allow them to complete their prison terms in Egyptian prisons in order to make it easier for their families to visit them," Ragheb was quoted as saying.

"We have recently discussed the activation of a bilateral agreement on judicial cooperation with Egypt during a visit of an Egyptian delegation to the Ministry of Justice," said the ministry official.

Jordan has been calling for the activation of the 1983 Riyadh Arab Agreement for Judicial Cooperation, which allows Arabs imprisoned in signatory states to spend the rest of their prison terms in their respective countries.

Last week, Iraqi Justice Minister Hassan Shammari said Baghdad was willing to sign a bilateral agreement with Jordan to exchange prisoners.

He also expressed his country's willingness to cooperate with the Jordanian embassy in Baghdad to facilitate visits by family members of Jordanian prisoners in Iraq.