Jordan welcomes releases from Iraqi jails

The Jordanian Prime Minister, Abd al-Salam al-Majali, has given a qualified welcome to Iraq's decision to free all Jordanian prisoners, although he's criticised Iraq for announcing it in the media.

Mr. Majali said he had hoped that the Iraqis would have let Jordan know through the usual channels.

A Jordanian opposition politician, Leith Shubeilat, who's served time in jail for slandering King Hussein, says he'll take the sixty or so prisoners home in convoy on Wednesday.

Tension between Iraq and Jordan has been high since Iraq last month executed four Jordanians accused of smuggling car parts.

On Sunday, a senior Iraqi envoy was among eight people stabbed to death in Amman.

Jordan has rejected Iraq's attempts to send its own investigators to help with the murder inquiry.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service