Ammon News - AMMONNEWS - The Jordanian Bar Association (JBA) on Tuesday warned the government against allowing Iraqi Ambassador to Jordan Jawad Abbas from returning to the Kingdom, a warning that comes at the backof the beating incident of Jordanian activists by Iraqi Embassy staff back in May.

The Association called on the government to "champion the populist demand" to consider Abbas a persona non-grata and expel him from the kingdom.

JBA said in Tuesday's statement that the Iraqi embassy staff's behavior offends Jordanian national dignity, claiming that the ambassador instigated his bodyguards to attack Jordanian activists, including several lawyers.

The incident sparked wide controversy, protests, and denunciation after a video clip showing cadres of the Iraqi Embassy in Amman reportedly beating Jordanian Ba'athist activists during an embassy reception held at the Royal Cultural Center.

An edited video clip, broadcasted by an Iraqi TV channel and circulated on social networking sites, shows embassy cadres attacking Jordanian Ba'athist activists who walked into the function and chanted slogans against Iraqi President Nuri al-Maliki and in support of late Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein and his Ba'athist regime.



Among the Jordanian activists reportedly beaten by embassy staff and security was Ziyad Najdawi, a Jordanian Ba'athist and attorney who represented Saddam Hussein and was part of the late president's defense team. Najdawi reportedly sustained broken bones and was beaten badly.

The incident culminated in Iraq issuing an official apology to Jordan over the incident, and a promise to investigate and reprimand those found to be involved in the beatings.



The incident occurred in mid May at the Royal Cultural Center in Amman to commemorate what the Iraqi Embassy called "Mass Graves in the Era of the Former Regime." 



Ambassador Abbas left Jordan following the incident, and has not returned since.