The remains of a Jordanian distantly related to the royal family who was killed in an attack in Afghanistan were repatriated on Saturday and received by King Abdullah II, Queen Rania and other royals.
Captain Ali bin Zeid was killed "on Wednesday evening as a martyr while performing the sacred duty of the Jordanian forces in Afghanistan," the official news agency Petra said.
The agency provided no further details about his death.
The soldier's family said that Zeid was killed in an attack on Wednesday but the precise circumstances in which he died remain unclear.
The authorities in Amman have never confirmed the presence of Jordanian troops in Afghanistan.
The officer's family said that Zeid, who carried the title "sherif" that is bestowed on members of the royal family, had been in Afghanistan for 20 days and had been due to return home on the day he was killed.
A suicide attack at a base in eastern Afghanistan on Wednesday killed seven members of the US Central Intelligence Agency and wounded six others, the CIA said.
The attack, which was claimed by the Taliban, took place at Forward Operating Base Chapman in Khost province near the Pakistani border.
Copyright 2010  AFP Global Edition
