Jordan warming relations with Hamas

Ammon News reports that Jordanian officials are floating the idea of increasing their relations with Hamas, twelve years after Hamas offices were closed in Amman.

Prime Minister Awn Khasawneh stated on Monday that the Hamas departure from Jordan was a "political and constitutional mistake."

Former PM Abdel Raouf al-Rawabdeh said that if his government's decision to deport the political bureau of the Palestinian Islamic resistance movement (Hamas) from Jordan in 1999 was a political and constitutional mistake then the new prime minister should correct it.

Hamas political leader Khalid Meshal had called Jordan's new Prime Minister Awn Khasawneh to congratulate him on the appointment and formation of a new government, and Hamas leader Muhammad Nazzal visited Khasawneh in his home last week.

It looks like Jordan is hedging its bets on who will end up leading the Palestinian Arabs in coming years. After all, the Islamist axis will not stop in northern Africa but will likely go through the PA/Hamas territories to Lebanon and Syria. Jordan cannot afford to isolate itself from the coming Islamic winter.