Jordan says MP held by Israel over alleged arms, gold smuggling

Imad al-Adwan is a member of the Palestinian committee of the Jordanian parliament.

Israel has detained a Jordanian member of parliament in a case related to the alleged smuggling of weapons and gold into the occupied West Bank, the Jordanian foreign ministry said.

Imad al-Adwan, a member of the Jordanian parliament who crossed a key border crossing along the Jordan River by car earlier on Sunday, was detained and questioned by Israeli authorities, Sinan Majali, a spokesman for the Jordanian foreign ministry, said. Affairs, in a statement to state media on Sunday.

“The ministry and all relevant agencies in the kingdom are working to identify the details of this issue and address it as soon as possible,” said Majali.

Al-Adwan had been arrested “for questioning in a case involving alleged smuggling of quantities of weapons and gold,” he said.

A spokesman for the Israeli Foreign Ministry declined to comment on reports of the arrest.

Al-Adwan, 35, is a member of the Jordanian parliament’s Palestinian committee.

Israeli media reported that he was arrested at the King Hussein Bridge (Allenby) border crossing in the occupied West Bank. There has been no official comment from the Israeli authorities on al-Adwan’s arrest.

Prominent Jordanian lawmaker Khalil Atiya, who is known for his outspoken opposition to Israel and has led campaigns to revoke the country’s peace treaty with Israel, said the government would be held responsible if it did not act quickly.

“There should be no room left for the enemy to harm the dignity of Jordanians by detaining and imprisoning a member of parliament,” Atiya said.

Israel maintains close security ties with Jordan, its Arab neighbor with which it shares its longest stretch of border, but political relations have soured in recent years over Israel’s stance on Palestinians’ right to statehood.

Many of the kingdom’s citizens are of Palestinian descent.