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| Israel-Palestine-Jordan |
| Hamas Denies Smuggling Charges |
| 2006-04-19 |
| Hamas-Gaza denies Jordanian charge of smuggling weapons into kingdom. Amman abruptly canceled the Palestinian FM’s visit Wednesday, April 19 “until further notice.” Government spokesman Nasser Judeh said “missiles, explosives and automatic weapons were seized in the last couple of days along with Hamas activists who had smuggled the dangerous weapons into the country.” DEBKAfile’s Amman sources report Jordan-Hamas rancor peaked in early March when Hamas’ Damascus-based chief Khaled Meshaal was accused of meddling in the Jordanian Muslim Brotherhood branch’s vote for a Chief Guide to bring Salem Thunaibat to office with Jamil Abu Baqar as his deputy. King Abdullah and his security chiefs are worried about the Hamas-led Palestinian government providing logistical backing for an attempt by their sister organization, the Muslim Brotherhood of Jordan, to seize power in Amman. In 1999, the Hamas was kicked out of Jordan for subversion. According to our sources, the contraband hardware would have been smuggled into Jordan from Syria or Lebanon rather than the West Bank or Gaza Strip. |
| Posted by:Steve |