Hamas Officials Renew Legal Efforts to Return to JordanFour senior officials of the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement, or Hamas, were preparing for a second legal battle for their right to return to the kingdom, a semi-official newspaper reported on Tuesday, December 5.The officials all hold Jordanian citizenship. They were expelled from Jordan last year during a government crackdown on charges of affiliation with a foreign organization, illegal possession of weapons and undermining the kingdom's stability. They are now living in exile in Qatar. The Hamas members, headed by Hamas Politburo chief Khaled Mishaal, have contacted a leading Jordanian lawyer to prepare for a second appeal to the Higher Court of Justice to overturn the expulsion order issued by the government of former Prime Minister Abdel Rauf Rawabdeh, the English-language Jordan Times daily said. They filed an appeal to the court on June 27, but it was rejected. Hamas opposes the peace process between the Palestinians and Israel, and calls for liberation of the occupied Palestinian territories through holy war. Its stance runs foul of the policy of Jordan, which has made peace with Israel after signing a peace treaty in 1994. The renewed legal efforts by the Hamas members followed a meeting between MIshaal and Jordanian Prime Minister Ali Abu Ragheb in Doha on the sidelines of a summit of the Organization of the Islamic Conference last month. During the meeting, the first after the expulsion of the Hamas officials, Ragheb reiterated Jordan's preconditions on which they could return, namely renouncing their affiliation with Hamas and acting as ordinary citizens in the kingdom. The Hamas activists decided to renew the legal efforts after no compromise was reached at the Doha meeting, Jordan Times said. |
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