He told a press conference that 457 of the pardoned prisoners were convicted by the State Security Court.

He said that about 1,500 prisoners would be freed immediately while the rest would be released in successive batches.

The freed prisoners would include hundreds of Islamist fundamentalists who were involved in the 2002 riots in the southern city of Maan.

The prime minister said that more than 1 million citizens benefited from the interim general amnesty law, which excluded crimes pertaining to espionage, state security, narcotics, rape, premeditated murder, financing of terrorism, money laundering and forgery of banknotes.

Bakhit said that the general amnesty, which marks the 12th anniversary of King Abdallah’s assumption of power, was designed to "lay down bridges of confidence between citizens and the government so that we can proceed with firm steps towards reform."

He alluded to protests that swept Jordan over the past four months to push forward demands for political reforms in the wake of the uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt.

King Abdallah has tasked Bakhit’s government with carrying out "real and speedy reforms," including the drafting of a new election law and a political parties law that would pave the ground for the formation of governments in Jordan with majorities at the lower house of Parliament.

A new draft election law worked out by the National Dialogue Committee seemed to hit an early snag this week, when opposition parties considered it to fall short of achieving the principle of proportional representation.

Opposition parties and independent groups of activists said they planned new demonstrations on Friday to spur the reform process.