Jordan king visits family of ‘martyr’ judge

Palace tweets photo of Abdullah II hugging a family member of Palestinian Jordanian judge killed by IDF

By AFP 17 March 2014, 10:58 am 2 Edit

The father of Raed Zeiter grieves over his son's body during his funeral in the northern West Bank city of Nablus, on March 11, 2014 (photo credit: AFP/Jaafar Ashtiyeh)

AMMAN — King Abdullah II on Sunday visited the family of a Jordanian judge killed by Israeli soldiers to offer his condolences, the palace said on Twitter.

A picture on Twitter showed the king hugging the father of 38-year-old Raed Zeiter.

“His majesty King Abdullah II offers condolences to the family of martyr judge Raed Zeiter,” reads the caption.

Israeli troops shot Zeiter, a Palestinian Jordanian, at a border crossing last Monday, saying he attacked them, igniting a diplomatic row between Israel and the kingdom and causing furor among Jordanians.

Prime Minister Abdullah Ensour has held Israel “completely responsible” for Zeiter’s death and demanded an apology for the “hideous” killing.

His Majesty King Abdullah II offers condolences to the family of martyr Judge Raed Zuaiter #JO #Jordan pic.twitter.com/RWP7F2069p

— RHC (@RHCJO) March 16, 2014

And MPs have demanded the government expel the Israeli ambassador and release Jordanian soldier Ahmad Dakamseh, serving a life sentence after he opened fire on a group of Israeli schoolgirls in 1997, killing seven.

Opposition Islamists and other political parties have demanded a 1994 peace deal between Jordan and Israel be annulled.

Israel has expressed regret for the shooting but stopped short of apologizing to Jordan, which is the only Arab country besides Egypt to have made peace with the Jewish state.