Jordan charges former parliamentarian with slander

AMMAN, May 3 (Reuters) Jordan today charged a right wing former parliamentarian known for his radical views against the royal family with slander and undermining the dignity of the state, judicial officials said.

They said Ahmad Oweidi al-Abbadi, who last served as a deputy in 2003, was charged in response to a legal complaint by Interior Minister Eid al Fayez who also accused him of personal defamation.

The prosecutor ordered the arrest of the former deputy, who hails from a prominent Jordanian tribe, for 15 days pending the investigation, they said.

The charges carry a maximum sentence of three years in prison, lawyers said.

The conservative politician, who heads an unlicensed political grouping called the Jordanian National Movement, has recently stepped up criticism of Jordan's royal family and accused senior officials of corruption on a Web site he runs.

Abbadi, whose tribe wields considerable influence in the country's security services and government, had long held strong views against the presence of Palestinians who settled in the kingdom after successive Arab-Israeli wars.

Jordan has tough penal codes that forbid slandering King Abdullah or Jordan's royal family or writing articles that are disparaging to the armed forces and security services.

A press and publications law also bans articles that contain contempt of religion, or are deemed to damage national unity or offend public morals.

Reuters RS DB2139