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Ammon News - AMMONNEWS - The leadership of the Hamas, including the political bureau, will not move to settle in Amman, Minister of State for Media Affairs Rakan Majali said on Sunday.

He noted that head of Hamas' political bureau Khaled Meshal intends to visit Jordan along with Qatar's Crown Prince after coordination between Jordan, Hamas, and Qatar, but did not determine a date for the visit, Al Ghad daily newspaper reported.

Majali, who is also government spokesperson, denied reports that Hamas' political bureau would move its offices from Damascus to Amman, explaining that discussions are underway to have "a normal relationship between Jordan and Hamas, just like other Palestinian factions."

"Jordan deals with Hamas in a positive way, just like other factions, we respect Hamas and recognize its importance and presence in Gaza and respect what it represents," Majali added.

The Minister explained that what is proposed is dialogue and meetings just like our relations with other movements, "the difference here is that Hamas is a big organization, and I hope that this is not misunderstood to be at the expense of Jordan's relationship with the Palestinian Authority."

Jordan's ongoing relations with the PA are "official," because it represents the awaited Palestinian state, "and our relationship with the PA is ongoing."

Regarding normalized relations between Jordan and Hamas, Majali expressed that this means that Hamas officials may visit Jordan, meet with Jordanian officials, "but the idea of moving the political bureau to Amman is not proposed in the meantime," noting that the option was not proposed by Hamas either.

"The relations between Hamas and Jordan were never cut off, some Hamas leaders were permitted to enter and leave Jordan."

Meshal had called Jordan's new Prime Minister Awn Khasawneh to congratulate him on the appointment and formation of a new government, and Hamas leader Muhammad Nazzal visited Khasawneh in his home last week.

Jordan's relations with Hamas were tense particularly after Hamas' leadership was expelled from Amman in 1999.


* Photo: Jordan's Minister of State for Media Affairs and Government Spokesperson Rakan Majali