Amman, Jan 19 (AFP) Israel has officially apologised forthe killing of three Jordanians and offered to compensatetheir families, Jordan's foreign ministry said today.
On July 23 last year, a security guard for the Israeliembassy shot dead a Jordanian worker who had come to anapartment to install furniture and who stabbed him in the backwith a screwdriver, according to the Israeli foreign ministry.
A second Jordanian, the apartment landlord, was alsokilled -- apparently by accident.
Jordan's government spokesman Mohammed Momani said todayAmman had "received an official memo from the Israeli foreignministry expressing the Israeli government's strong sorrow andregret over the Israeli embassy incident."It had also apologised for the killing of a Jordanianjudge by an Israeli soldier at the countries' border in 2014and pledged to compensate all three families, Momani said instatements carried by the official Petra news agency.
A statement today from the office of Israeli PrimeMinister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel "attaches greatimportance to its strategic relations with Jordan and the twostates will act to advance cooperation between them and tostrengthen" a 1994 peace treaty between them.
It made no mention of an apology or compensation.
The embassy guard was briefly questioned by investigatorsin Jordan but was allowed to return Israel along with the restof the embassy staff, on the grounds he had diplomaticimmunity.
He received a hero's welcome from Netanyahu, sparkingwidespread anger in Jordan.
Amman later said it would not allow the embassy staff toreturn until Israel opened a serious investigation and offeredan apology.
Momani said Israel's memo had met all the conditions thegovernment had set for the Israeli ambassador to return toAmman.
"The government contacted the families of all threemartyrs who agreed to accept the apology and compensation," headded. (AFP)CHT.
This is unedited, unformatted feed from the Press Trust of India wire.