Kuwait releases Jordanian prisoners

Kuwait yesterday ordered the release of thirteen Jordanian prisoners held in Kuwaiti custody.

Crown Prince Hassan of Jordan directed Jordanian officials to facilitate the freed prisoners' return home.

Jordanian Minister of Transport and Telecommunications Sami Gammo, told reporters that Kuwaiti Foreign Minister Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmed informed him through the Kuwaiti Charge d'affairs in Amman of Jordan of the amnesty.

The 13 Jordanians had been sentenced to jail terms by the State Security Court in the wake of the Gulf War.

This Kuwaiti step comes at a time when Jordanian families are preparing to visit Kuwait on May 4 to visit some 25 Jordanian prisoners, including one woman and 16 teenagers.

Jordanian dailies quoted the director of the International Organizations Department at the Kuwaiti Ministry of the Interior, Col. Hamid al-Refai', that the Jordanian delegation will include 41 persons visiting relatives at the central prison, sentenced in various financial, criminal and financial cases.