AMMAN: The head of Jordan’s General Intelligence Department, Gen. Mohammad Dahabi, on Thursday met with a delegation representing the Palestinian Hamas group, led by its political bureau member Mohammad Nazal, Islamic movement sources said.
It was the second meeting between the two sides in less than a month, they added. “The dialogue, which tackles a number of outstanding issues, reflects the desire of the two sides to open a new chapter in their ties” which witnessed a complete rupture nine years ago, the sources said.
In 1999, the Jordanian authorities closed down Hamas’ bureau in Amman and deported its Jordanian representatives, including the current head of the faction’s political bureau chief Khaled Meshaal. Since then, the Amman government has appeared supportive of President Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah movement.
However, the Islamic sources quoted Dahabi as saying that the latest meetings with Hamas “did not have the aim of forming an axis with Hamas against Fatah and President Mahmoud Abbas, because the Jordanian policy was not based on the game of axes.”
In a parallel move, the Jordanian government was also establishing contacts with Hamas’ Jordanian ally, the Muslim Brotherhood movement and its political arm, the Islamic Action Front, Al-Arab Al-Yawm newspaper said.
Meanwhile, Jordanian authorities yesterday said that four prisoners convicted of killing Israeli soldiers will be freed. The four were transferred to Jordan from Israel last year to serve 18 months in a Jordan prison. They had been sentenced to life in prison in Israel.
