Jordan jails Islamist preacher for 'inciting hatred'

A Jordanian court today sentenced an Islamist preacher to two years in jail for "inciting hatred against the regime" online, a judicial source said.

Iyad Qunaibi, a Jordanian born in Kuwait in 1975, was arrested in mid-June for posting on his Facebook page an audio message entitled "Jordan on the brink of the abyss" critical of government policies.

In it, he criticised Jordanian relations with Israel - the two neighbours are bound by a peace treaty - and slammed the "Westernisation" of Jordanian society.

Qunaibi's lawyer said the sentence - delivered by the state security court, a military tribunal - was harsh and "unexpected" and that he would appeal.