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Al-Ahram Weekly 30 Sep. - 6 Oct. 1999 Issue No. 449 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 30 Sep. - 6 Oct. 1999 Issue No. 449
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Focus Features Profile Travel Living Sports People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters Downsizing Hamas
By Lola KeilaniAlthough two senior figures from the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) were arrested by Jordanian authorities upon arrival from abroad last week, analysts believe that it may be in the government's best interest to reach a political compromise to defuse the escalating tension with opposition parties. The opposition to the crackdown against Hamas is led by the Muslim Brotherhood and its political wing, the Islamic Action Front. The Brotherhood is the main supporter of Hamas in Jordan.
Political observers stress that a gesture may be forthcoming from King Abdullah II to defuse the tension between the Jordanian government and leaders of opposition parties. The Hamas leaders are currently before a military court and the king could intervene at the time of sentencing.
"Nobody is paying much attention to the details of the military court's proceedings because the charges are based on 'flimsy evidence' and because everybody ascribes them to external political pressure from Arafat, Albright and Israel," said political observer Musa Zaid.
Jordanian authorities provoked a storm of criticism last week by arresting Khalid Misha'al, Hamas politburo chief, and Ibrahim Ghousheh, movement spokesman, as they stepped off a plane from Iran at Amman's Queen Alia Airport. Meanwhile, authorities ordered the deportation of Musa Abu Marzouq, a key Hamas figure also on the same flight. The late King Hussein intervened personally a few years ago to ensure Abu Marzouq's release from a US prison.
Misha'al and Ghousheh, like many Palestinians, hold Jordanian passports, while Abu Marzouq has a Yemeni passport. Upon arrival at Alia airport, Abu Marzouq presented an Egyptian travel permit for Palestinian refugees, but the authorities insisted on sending him back to Dubai, United Arab Emirates, where their flight had made a stopover on its way from Tehran. Misha'al and Ghousheh were taken into custody.
Hamas supporters were barred from entering the airport. Riot police wielding shields and batons deployed outside, and security officers searched cars and checked papers at the airport's main entrance.
Minister of Information Ayman Majali claimed the Hamas leaders were engaged in illegal political activities in the Kingdom. It is rumoured that Amman received irrefutable evidence that Hamas operatives had recruited four Israeli Arabs to carry out explosions on two buses between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem on 5 September.
The Jordanian authorities, last month, had closed down several Hamas offices, rounded up 12 of its members and issued arrest warrants against three of its top leaders.
The Jordanian government claims that Hamas penetrated the moderate, pro-monarchy Muslim Brotherhood and radicalised many members. Further claims against the movement are that it operated a front business with 5 million Jordanian dinars in capital, stored weapons and held military training exercises on Jordanian territory. The government said the money was found following the search of three Hamas offices.
Government officials also claim that the movement was attempting to establish a clandestine intelligence apparatus inside Jordan. Prime Minister Abdul-Ra'ouf Rawabdeh accused Misha'al of coordinating with members of the Muslim Brotherhood to relay messages to Hamas members in the West Bank.
Hamas representative in Jordan, Mohamed Nazzal, who is currently in hiding, published an article in Saturday's Al-Arab Al-Youm where he refuted all the government's allegations.
Nazzal said that the movement would never hide 5 million Jordanian dinars in an office. As for organising an underground intelligence apparatus to tap the phones of prominent Jordanians, he said that Hamas "does not have the technical means to tap telephones or keep Jordanians under surveillance. The Hamas offices have biographical data on Jordanian decision-makers as published in Who's Who in Jordan."
Concerning the three pistols found on the premises, Nazzal said they were licensed by the Ministry of Interior and kept following Mossad's botched attempt to poison Misha'al three years ago. The late King Hussein intervened personally to force the previous Israeli government to provide Amman with the antidote and agreed to release the Mossad agents after Israel released Hamas leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin from prison.
Minister of Information Majali declared on Sunday that King Abdullah had received a message from Sheikh Yassin and that the letter was being studied at the highest levels.
Political observers believe that the letter whose contents have not been made public, will help to create a face-saving formula for the government and secure the release of Hamas leaders in Jordan.
The crackdown on Hamas is revealing about the situation in Jordan. "From a political point of view, the crackdown on a popular movement like Hamas shows the king's confidence over the internal political balance, and how strong he has become since covering his flanks and mending the fences with Syria, so guaranteeing that Assad will not support any subversive actions from Hamas or any other radical group within the country," said Musa Zaid, a Jordanian analyst.
Though Hamas has both Iranian and Syrian backing, in this case the prevalent feeling here is that Syria will not retaliate.
Israel views Jordan's actions as a gesture of goodwill and will take comfort now that the political leadership of Hamas is in jail and unable to provide backing for the group's armed wing, Izzidin Al-Qassam.
A Palestinian Authority (PA) official welcomed Jordan's move since the PA has long nursed suspicions about Jordan's ambitions and has claimed that Amman was using Hamas for its own purposes. The presence of Hamas on Jordanian soil, nurtured those suspicions, and the movement was viewed as a potential card to be used by the Hashemites to revive or solidify their claims on the West Bank, despite King Hussein's earlier decision to disengage in 1988.
Taking into consideration domestic and regional factors, analysts believe that the Hamas presence in Jordan will be reduced rather than eliminated. It is nevertheless clear that, under Washington's tutelage, Jordan wants to establish its bona fides in an international environment with zero tolerance for militant groups like Hamas.
