A Jordanian soldier who shot dead seven Israeli schoolgirls in 1997 was released from prison Sunday after serving out his life sentence, sparking outrage from the families of those killed. In March 1997, Ahmad Dakamseh fired an automatic weapon at schoolgirls on a trip to the Jordan-Israel border, killing seven of them and wounding five others and a teacher.
"He is now a free man," his cousin Mohammed Yahya Dakamseh told AFP by phone, saying he had been released at around 1:00 am after "he finished his jail term".
Dakamseh, who is aged 46 according to a family member, was released from the Bab al-Hawa prison in Irbid, 90 kilometres (60 miles) north of the capital Amman. He had been sentenced to life imprisonment, which in Jordan is 20 years.
Dakamseh, who hails from Irbid's Ebder area, was a married father-of-three at the time of the attack.
His motives were never entirely clear, but he told the national security court during his trial that he fired his weapon at the schoolgirls after they mocked him while he was praying.
Jordan's then ruler King Hussein condemned the attack and later travelled to Israel to offer his condolences to the families of the murdered schoolgirls. His government also paid compensation.
The attack came less than three years after Jordan and Israel signed a peace treaty.
Dakamseh was driven home on Sunday in a convoy of dozens of cars whose drivers were honking their horns, a video shared on social media showed. Dakamseh's brother Bassem said the family home was full of well-wishers.
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