Jordan Times
Wednesday, December 22, 1999
King receives message from Qatari emir
AMMAN (AP) — The rift with the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement, Hamas, was on the agenda when His Majesty King Abdullah met the Qatari foreign minister here Tuesday, an executive member of the group said.
The minister, Hamad Ben Jassim Ben Jaber Al Thani, told reporters in Amman that he was only carrying a verbal message from Qatar's emir on the “strong relations” between the two countries. He did not elaborate and later returned home.
The Jordan News Agency, Petra, said that Al Thani delivered a letter to King Abdullah from Qatar's emir, Sheikh Hamad Ben Khalifa Al Thani.
But Hamas political bureau member Musa Abu Marzouk told Qatar's Al Jazeerah Television that Sheikh Hamad was mediating with Jordan to pave the way for the return of four Hamas leaders who were deported to Qatar last month.
He said the emir's letter tackled the issue. “We want a logical solution that would allow for the return of our exiled brothers to Jordan,” Abu Marzouk told Al Jazeerah in a phone interview from the Syrian capital Damascus.
On Nov. 21, Jordan deported the four Hamas leaders — all Jordanian citizens — to Qatar under a deal which stipulated that Hamas' offices in Jordan would remain closed and the group would not be permitted to operate in the Kingdom.
The exiled leaders are political strategist Khalid Misha'al, party spokesman Ibrahim Ghosheh and political bureau members Izzat Resheq and Sami Khater. The four were arrested in a government crackdown which began in late August. Until then, Hamas had run offices in Amman and issued statements to the media.
Police say they have seized Hamas computer disks that led them to caches of arms and explosives. They also accuse Hamas of training militant cadres in the Kingdom. Hamas leaders deny the charges.