Amman  - The trial of prominent Jordanian columnist Khaled Mahadin who has been charged with "slandering" the lower house of Parliament got under way on Thursday, according to judicial sources.

The chamber's Permanent Bureau last week filed a lawsuit against Mahadin, accusing him of defaming the House of Representatives in a recent online newspaper article.

Mahadin, 63, denied the charge, saying that he had "only criticized the house's performance." The case was adjourned to March 30.

Amman - Jordan's State Security Court on Monday sentenced three Jordanians to 22 years in jail and hard labour for plotting to attack a church in Amman in May, judicial sources said.

The court initially sentenced each of the three defendants to 45 years in jail and hard labour but decided to reduce the terms to 22 years and six months.

Two defendants, Majed Qatanani, 22, and Ali Abu Arab, 23, were arrested on May 15, but the third suspect, Hamad Soyraki was tried in absentia because he is still at large.

Amman - The deficit in Jordan's balance of trade shrank 33.2 per cent in January for the first time in several years mainly on falling oil prices, according to official statistics released on Saturday.

The Department of Statistics put the trade gap in January at 374.3 million dinars (529 million dollars), compared with 560.3 million dinars in January 2008.

Amman - Jordan's King Abdullah II and Queen Rania are to fly to Rabat on Sunday for a working visit to Morocco to be followed by a state visit to Portugal, the royal court announced Friday.

King Abdullah is due to have talks in Rabat with King Mohammed VI on latest developments in the region and efforts under way to unite Arab stances on various issues and push forward the Arab-Israeli peace process, a royal court statement said.

Amman - Arab stock markets incurred fresh losses this week as lack of confidence reigned and investors held low expectations regarding the first quarter results, financial analysts said Friday.

"I believe Arab bourses are heading to worse situations due to pessimistic expectations regarding the performance of listed firms in the first quarter of the year," Nizar Taher, head of brokerage at the Jordan Ahli Bank, told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.