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| Israel-Palestine-Jordan |
| In Jordan, thousands attend funeral for Mash'al's father |
| 2009-08-30 |
| Ma'an - Thousands of Palestinians attended a funeral procession for the father of Hamas leader in exile Khaled Mash'al in the Jordanian capital of Amman on Saturday. Abed Ar-Raheem Mash'al died at 91 on Friday in Jordan, and was buried there on Saturday. At his funeral was Salim Az-Zanoun, head of the Palestinian National Council (PNC), who expressed condolences on behalf of President Mahmoud Abbas, who hours earlier departed Amman for Qatar. Senior Jordanian figures were also in attendance, including the secretary-general of the Muslim Brotherhood. The elder Mash'al's son Khaled entered the kingdom on Saturday after he was granted special permission by Jordan's King Abdullah. The Hamas leader had been banned from entering for over ten years. The Hamas chief was not scheduled to hold any official meetings during his stay. According to an aide, Jordan considers the visit purely humanitarian, a rare exception to its hard-line stance on the Islamic movement. Jordan and Hamas have had poor relations since five of the Islamic movement's members, including Khaled Mash'al, were expelled to Qatar in 1999. In 2006, Jordan charged others with smuggling weapons from Syria. On Friday, de facto Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh called Mash'al to extend his condolences, as other Hamas officials expressed sympathy for the exiled leader's family. |
| Posted by:Fred |