AMMAN (Dispatches) – Jordan’s Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi says two of its citizens detained by the Zionist regime after travelling to the occupied West Bank would return to Jordan "before the end of the week”.
Jordan recalled its ambassador on Tuesday over the refusal of the Zionist regime to release Hiba Labadi and Abdul Rahman Miri, who Jordan said had been illegally arrested without charge a few months ago.
Safadi gave no further details about how their release had been secured in his comments on Twitter. The Zionist regime declined to comment.
"The government pursued the case from the start under direct instructions from His Majesty King Abdullah to take all necessary steps to release them whatever that may cost,” Safadi said.
Labadi, 24, was arrested in August after crossing to the West Bank to attend a family wedding. She subsequently went on a hunger strike and was hospitalized after her health deteriorated
Miri, 29, was arrested last September after he also went to the West Bank to visit relatives.
Safadi said last month he held the Zionist regime responsible for the lives of the two, adding that their health had severely deteriorated and warned the kingdom could escalate its actions if they were not released.
The Zionist regime’s deputy foreign minister, Tzipi Hotovely, said at the time both detainees were suspected of "security offences”, without being more specific.
The occupying regime mainly uses so-called administrative detention against Palestinians suspected of anti-Zionist activities.
It says the measure, which human rights groups have condemned, is aimed at preventing further violence in cases where there is insufficient evidence to prosecute or where court proceedings could expose the identity of secret informants.