Hamas refused to join a Palestinian delegation invited by Jordan to look into details of the discovery of arms smuggled by some movement members into the country as well as the arrest of elements who plotted to attack officials and other targets in the Kingdom. Government Spokesperson Nasser Judeh on Saturday quoted Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas as saying in a letter that the Hamas-led government “showed no interest in participating in this delegation,” the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported. Abbas added that Hamas wanted direct talks between the Jordanian government and the group’s exiled leaders, “because they were accused of the plots,” Petra quoted Judeh as saying.The Palestinian government said it was not directly involved in the issue, according to Abbas. The government recently said arrested members of Hamas received orders from one of the group’s leaders in Syria to carry out attacks in Jordan. Following the discovery of the weapons cache, Jordan scrapped a planned visit to Amman in April by Mahmoud Zahar, foreign minister in the Hamas-run Palestinian government.
Judeh yesterday said the government will receive the delegation formed by Abbas. The team was expected to arrive in Amman on Wednesday, he said. “The government is surprised by the refusal of the [Hamas] government to participate in the Palestinian delegation, to which we are going to present the details of a series of abuses by members of Hamas in recent years,” Judeh told Agence France-Presse. He said this would include details on the confessions of people arrested as well as on the arms and missiles that Hamas elements have stockpiled in Jordan. “What was seized in Jordan represents a great danger and a threat to the stability of the Kingdom,” he said.