Jordan refuses to grant German troops immunity

German press sources confirmed that Jordan has not yet agreed to give the German soldiers, who are expected to be transferred from Incirlik base, a complete immunity.

According to the website of the German TV channel Deutsche Welle, Germany wants to ensure its soldiers full immunity from suit before the Jordanian judiciary, but Amman rejected this.

The German magazine Der Spiegel reported on its Saturday issue that Germany wanted to protect the 250 German soldiers during their mission in Jordan through granting them full immunity from criminal prosecution. However, Jordan did not yet agree on this.

Read: Jordan willing to home German airbase

“We are still negotiating the status of forces emplacement agreement,” said sources from the German Defense Ministry in Berlin on Saturday. However, the sources also stated that plans to transport Tornado reconnaissance aircraft from Turkish Incirlik base to Jordan’s Muwaffaq Salti (Azraq) air base in October are not expected to be postponed.

The transfer plans of aircraft to Jordan come after Turkey refused to allow a delegation of the German parliament’s defence committee to visit German soldiers stationed at the base, because the German government granted asylum for former Turkish soldiers who were accused by the government in Ankara of being involved in coup d’état attempt in Turkey last year in July.

NOTE: This page was updated at 10.51 BST on September 14, 2017 to correct the capital of Jordan as Amman. A previous version of this page stated “Oman” as Jordan’s capital.