Jordan says Hamas will not move to Amman

From Ammon News:

The leadership of the Hamas, including the political bureau, will not move to settle in Amman, Minister of State for Media Affairs Rakan Majali said on Sunday.

Majali, who is also government spokesperson, denied reports that Hamas' political bureau would move its offices from Damascus to Amman, explaining that discussions are underway to have "a normal relationship between Jordan and Hamas, just like other Palestinian factions."

"Jordan deals with Hamas in a positive way, just like other factions, we respect Hamas and recognize its importance and presence in Gaza and respect what it represents," Majali added.

The Minister explained that what is proposed is dialogue and meetings just like our relations with other movements, "the difference here is that Hamas is a big organization, and I hope that this is not misunderstood to be at the expense of Jordan's relationship with the Palestinian Authority."

Jordan's ongoing relations with the PA are "official," because it represents the awaited Palestinian state, "and our relationship with the PA is ongoing."

Regarding normalized relations between Jordan and Hamas, Majali expressed that this means that Hamas officials may visit Jordan, meet with Jordanian officials, "but the idea of moving the political bureau to Amman is not proposed in the meantime," noting that the option was not proposed by Hamas either.

Others in Jordan believe that the entire idea to move Hamas' headquarters to Amman is an American plot! Here's part of an unhinged op-ed from yesterday - written by a Jordanian Palestinian Arab:

Hamas is being ejected from Syria and it’s also being rejected and denied a foothold by other countries in the region. Because of that, Jordan and its leadership are at the receiving end of very vicious arm twisting, threatening and blackmailing by the U.S. and some corrupt Arab governments to force it to host HAMAS on its territory.

I am extremely opposed to any Palestinian political presence in Jordan under any name. Just as much, I am also opposing any political meddling-if there is any- by Jordan in Palestine. Giving our special relationship, all this can be changed once we, the Palestinians, liberate Palestine. Until then, Jordan must be protected from the sick designs of the Zionists and their sponsors who are hell bent on turning Jordan into a battle ground for Palestinian factions and their backers. In Hamas case its Hezbollah and Iran who will end up getting a foothold In Jordan. In the PA case, it’s ironically, Israel and the US which already have a foothold in Jordan.