Some 30 Jordanian prisoners in Syria are expected to return home within days as a result of stepped-up efforts of an independent civil group calling for the release of 187 Jordanian detainees, the Jordan Times newspaper reported on Tuesday.
Rights activists campaigning for the release was quoted as saying that hopes emerged after they had a meeting with top government officials in Damascus last week.
Earlier, the National Committee to Defend Jordanian Detainees ( NCDJD), which gathers lawyers, family members of prisoners and rights activists under the slogan of "release us", had sent a delegation to Damascus for the coordination.
The delegation handed to Syrian officials a list with the names of the 187 Jordanian citizens, some of whom have been in Syrian prisons for more than 20 years, according to family members in Jordan.
Lawyer Abdul Karim Shraideh, a founder of the NCDJD, said that some 30 detainees will be soon released as the Syrian authorities "gave promises to the committee's delegation to cooperate with us on this issue."
Mai Libsour, a NCDJD member, said that she has not heard about her brother and cousin since 1988, when the two were studying at universities in the northern Syrian city of Latakia and Aleppo respectively.
"Nobody in Syria gave us a reason why they were imprisoned and we do not know anything about them since then," she added.
Officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that a committee comprising high-ranking officials from both governments, who meet every month, might discuss issues including the issue of Jordanian prisoners, on the still-open agenda.
In case the diplomatic channels do not succeed, the NCDJD would refer the case to the UN Human Rights Commission, said the report.
Source: Xinhua
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