Jordan asks Israel to return passports of Jordanian activists

Amman: Jordan said on Monday it has asked Israel to return passports seized from Jordanians who were among passengers of the Gaza aid flotilla intercepted in a raid which cost nine lives last week.

Government spokesman Nabil Sharif said Israel has provided Jordan with a list of confiscated passports of seven Jordanians as well as nationals from Oman, Pakistan, Indonesia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Morocco and Algeria.

"We are still trying to know from the Israeli government the whereabouts of two more Jordanian passports," Sharif said in a statement.

"Passports are documents that are protected by international law and can not be held for any reason."

He did not say when Israel plans to deliver the passports to Jordan, which is bound by a peace treaty with the Jewish state since 1994.

Jordan's ambassador in Tel Aviv, Ali Al Ayed, was quoted by a local news website as saying that the Jewish state is expected to return the documents "in 24 hours."

The flotilla carried 600 passengers including around 30 Jordanians.

Nine Turkish activists were killed in Monday's raid, which has triggered fury across the globe and calls for an international investigation.

"An international probe is needed to investigate the attack, which was a crime and a stark violation of international law," King Abdullah II told Turkish President Abdullah Gul over the phone on Monday, the palace said.

The Jordanian king "offered his condolences to the Turkish president over the death of the Turkish martyrs," according to a statement.