Amman (dpa) – Hamas' leader Khaled Meshaal arrived in Amman on Sunday, in a rare visit, and went directly into talks with King Abdullah II. It is the first official visit to Jordan by a leader of the radical Palestinian group in the 12 years since the expulsion of Mishaal and three other Hamas officials from Amman in 1999, after the closure of the movement's bureau, reportedly under pressure from the US and Israel. Jordanian Prime Minister Awn Khasawneh in October said that the expulsion of Hamas was ”a constitutional and a legal mistake”. Meshaal was accompanied by Qatar's Crown Prince Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, as Doha is meditating a rapprochement between Hamas and Jordan. The Jordanian government welcomed Meshaal's visit as an opportunity for ”opening a new chapter” in the ties between the Amman and Hamas. The visit came amid speculation that Hamas could be mulling the transfer of its headquarters from strife-riven Syria to Jordan, but Jordanian Minister of State for Media Affairs Rakan Majali ruled out this possibility saying ”such an arrangement is not on the agenda”. ”Even Hamas did not request it” he added. Majali also said that the normalization of ties between Hamas and Jordan would not take place at the expense of the Palestinian Authority. He said that Amman would continue to consider the PA as the representative of the Palestinian people. BM ShortURL: http://goo.gl/g1QWU Tags: Amman, Hamas, Khaled Meshaal Section: Jordan, Latest News, Palestine
