Jordanian lawmaker is charged with smuggling guns into West Bank

A Jordanian lawmaker has been indicted in a Jordanian court on charges that he illegally smuggled scores of rifles and handguns into the West Bank through an Israeli-controlled crossing, his lawyer says.

The alleged gun-running scandal that gripped headlines last month has threatened to further strain ties between Israel and its Arab neighbor to the east despite their nearly three-decade-old peace treaty.

The apparent effort by a Jordanian parliament member to sneak guns into a restive West Bank — where young Palestinians are increasingly getting their hands on rifles and opening fire at Israeli security forces — has raised fears of Jordanian support for Palestinian terror that undercuts the country’s moderate, pro-Western monarchy.

The Jordanian lawmaker, Imad al-Adwan, was charged in a state security court in Amman last week, his lawyer Ali Mubaideen tells The Associated Press. After being interrogated, al-Adwan, 35, was charged with four counts of illegally exporting weapons and “carrying out actions that breach security and threaten community peace,” Mubaideen adds