By Mohammad Ghazal

AMMAN - The Arab Organisation for Human Rights (AOHR) said Monday that Jordanian prisoners in Iraq started a hunger strike.

But the government ruled out the possibility of the protest, citing inability of these prisoners to communicate among themselves.

Abdul Karim Shreideh, head of the prisoners and detention centres committee at the organisation, told The Jordan Times that the AOHR was informed through its sources in Iraq that all Jordanians jailed in Iraqi prisons began an open hunger strike.

According to the organisation, there are over 44 Jordanian prisoners in Iraq. Meanwhile, Minister of State for Media Affairs and Communications and Government Spokesperson Nabil Sharif said the government has received no information regarding the reported hunger strike.

“Jordanian prisoners in Iraq are held in different prisons, two to three prisoners in each. It is not possible they could coordinate a strike,” Sharif told The Jordan Times over the phone yesterday.

He said the issue of these prisoners is a top priority for the government, which is in contact with Iraqi authorities through the Foreign Ministry and the embassy in Baghdad. The activist announced that a meeting will be held soon with the families of those jailed in Iraq to discuss steps to be taken.

Led by the AOHR, these families have been active recently to attract attention to the plight of their relatives.

Sharif said: “We will have no peace of mind till we find a solution to this file once and for all.”