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Ammon News - AMMONNEWS - A majority of members of the Lower House of Parliament signed a parliamentary petition on Thursday calling for the release of Jordanian ex-soldier Ahmad Dagamseh, who is serving a life sentence for shooting and killing seven Israeli school girls in 1997.

On Thursday, 85 MPs signed the petition demanding Dagamseh's release on a humanitarian basis, considering his deteriorating health, in addition to "consider the conditions of his case and permanently settle it."

The parliamentary memo described Dagamseh as a "hero," calling for a special pardon to release him.

MP Ali Sneid, a former political prisoner, met Dagamseh while the former was detained, and wrote various articles describing the events that took place in Baqoura region on March 13, 1997, when Dagamseh opened fire and killed seven Israeli schoolgirls who were on a visit to the previously occupied border region between Jordan and Israel.

Sneid adopted and signed the parliamentary memo along with 85 other MPs.

The soldier, CPL Ahmed Daqamseh (26 then), was charged with "Premeditated" murder of Israelis, who were shot to death during an outing on the Naharayim island on the Jordan River.

Dagamseh's cause stirred diplomatic controversy between Jordan and Israel in 2011 when former Minister of Justice Hussein Mjalli joined a protest calling for the ex-soldier's release, and had labelled him a "hero," and questioned the sovereignty of the Jordanian state which is not allowing his pardon.

Mjalli's statements stirred the anger and protest of Israeli diplomats and officials, leading the jordanian government to dismiss his comments as a "personal opinion that does not represent the government's stance."