AMMAN?Four Jordanians, including a former finance minister, were released on bail on Thursday a day after their arrest for alleged corruption in a $2.1-billion refinery modernization project.

Prime Minister Samir Rifai meanwhile decided to refer the case to a state security court, government spokesman Nabil Sharif said.

Earlier a judicial official told AFP that "the four suspects were released on a 100,000-dinar ($140,000) bail each to make sure they attend their trial." There was no immediate date for the start of the trial.

Former finance minister and refinery management committee chairman Adel Kudah, former Jordan Petroleum Refinery Co executive director Ahmed Rifai, former prime ministerial economic advisor Mohammed Rawashdeh and businessman Khaled Shahin were arrested Wednesday on orders of the public prosecutor.

State-run Petra news agency said the four are accused of "taking bribes and failing in their duties." They could face up to three years in jail if convicted.

The allegations involve a tendering process last year for the expansion and upgrading of Jordan's oil refinery.

Kudah, Rifai and Rawashdeh are accused of rigging the process to secure the contract for a Jersey-based company that Shahin represented.

The prime minister "referred the case to the (military) state security court because it is related to the national economy's security and a vital facility," the government spokesman said in a statement.

Press reports about the affair had prompted the dismissal of the refinery company's top managers.

Battling corruption has been a major platform of the new government formed by Rifai in December.