Inmates at a Jordanian prison released the last three of about half a dozen police officers they had taken hostage and ended a riot that broke out over the fate of two convicted al-Qaida killers.

Jordan’s top prison official and at least six other police officers were being held hostage today by rioting prisoners demanding that two convicted al-Qaida killers be transferred to their penitentiary.

A winter storm has closed roads, schools and businesses in parts of the Middle East, dumping around a foot of snow on Amman, where snowmen sprouted along streets in the desert kingdom.