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Al-Ahram Weekly 14 - 20 October 1999 Issue No. 451 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 14 - 20 October 1999 Issue No. 451
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Books Features Profile Travel Living Sports People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters Abdullah's balancing act
By Lola KeilaniPrior to his departure last week for the United States, King Abdullah II of Jordan reiterated that his government's crackdown on Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) offices in the capital Amman was motivated purely by Jordanian, rather than by foreign interests. "We have [experienced] no pressure either from the US or from Israel," he said. "This was the right thing to do, and the law will take its course."
The Jordanian Prosecutor General ordered the closure on 31 August of five commercial offices in Amman registered under the names of Hamas leaders. At the same time, warrants were issued for the arrest of five of the group's leaders, two of whom, Hamas politburo chief Khaled Misha'al and spokesman Ibrahim Ghousheh, were arrested upon their return from Iran three weeks ago. The Jordanian State Security Court Prosecutor has meanwhile levied felony charges, two of which are punishable by death, against Misha'al, Ghousheh and politburo member Sami Chatter.
The three men have been charged with the "possession of an automatic weapon, (a Kalashnikov) without a licence with the aim of using it illegally, and the possession of explosives (hand grenades) with the aim of using them illegally." Other new charges included the "forgery of an Egyptian administrative stamp, fraud, and collecting funds for an illegal organisation."
The prosecutor also charged two other politburo members, the Hamas representative in Jordan Mohamed Nazzal, who is in hiding, and Ezzat Risheq. The group's former politburo chief Musa Abu Marzouq, who was deported and expelled three weeks ago immediately upon his return to Jordan from Iran, faces the same charges.
One of the eight witnesses to appear in court last week, who was reportedly from the Hamas inner circle on the West Bank, testified that he had seen training exercises in the use of arms being conducted in Jordan by the movement. Another witness said that he knew of Hamas members being sent to Iran for guerrilla warfare training in shooting, parachuting and intelligence activities. A third key witness, also said to be from Hamas's inner circles, failed to appear in court last Monday, though his testimony was expected to add new dimensions to the proceedings.
Jordanian politicians have said that the government's handling of the issue has been provocative for the majority of Jordanians, 70 per cent of whom are said to be of Palestinian origin. Prominent pro-regime political and tribal figures voiced their support for Hamas and criticised the aggressive and public nature of the crackdown. "The government could have called in Hamas leaders privately and made less clamour," said Taher Masri, a former Jordanian prime minister and a current member of the upper house of parliament. "Many people here respect Hamas as a resistance group. The government's action risks aggravating the relationship between the government and the Islamists, including the Muslim Brotherhood," he said.
Other former prime ministers, however, said in a meeting held last week at the king's residence that they understood the motives behind government actions, and accused Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood of violating Jordanian law, according to the weekly newspaper Al-Majd.
The former prime minister Abdel-Salam Majali said that the Muslim Brotherhood, which is now in talks with the authorities over the possible release of the two Hamas leaders, had forgotten its official status as a charitable organisation, while others said that the government should not reverse its decisions until legal procedures against the Hamas leaders had been completed. They suggested that a royal amnesty for the leaders could follow a court ruling on the cases.
Hamas opened offices in Jordan as research centres and under commercial licenses in 1990, but it has not been allowed to carry out political activities.
Recent developments in the Hamas issue have come at a pivotal time in Jordan's relations with the outside world. King Abdullah is expected to use his current visit to Washington to deliver a message from Iraqi President Saddam Hussein to US President Clinton, though he has stressed that the peace process and not the Iraq issue will head the agenda. Bilateral issues and the United States's $100 million reduction in aid to Jordan will undoubtedly also be priorities at the talks.
Without elaborating on the contents of the Iraqi message, the King confirmed that Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Tareq Aziz had passed on the message to Jordanian Prime Minister Abdul-Ra'ouf Rawabdeh during a visit to Jordan last week. Press reports said that Saddam Hussein's message to Clinton included an Iraqi request to "open an unconditional dialogue with Washington," something which the United States has often rejected.
Despite the king's efforts to make the Washington talks a success, observers have noted that he has been forced to heed strong appeals from Saudi, Qatari, Egyptian, Shi'a and Sunni figures to free the Hamas leaders, and a royal reprieve is widely expected in Amman.
