By Khaled Abul Khair
Albawaba.com – Amman
A source close to the Palestinian Hamas movement has said that the Islamist group is mulling a reshuffle of its politburo “to cope with new developments.”
The source said that Hamas would exclude all Jordanian members, including politburo chief Khaled Mishaal, to avoid a crisis similar to the one that erupted in August 1999, when four Hamas leaders were arrested and later exiled to Qatar. The official reason given for the deportations was their membership in a non-Jordanian organization in violation of the kingdom's laws.
Last month, Hamas spokesman Ibrahim Ghoshe arrived unexpectedly in Amman, where he was denied entry. He was kept at the airport for two weeks before the problem was settled and the 65-year-old opposition figure was allowed to legally enter his homeland.
He was only allowed to resume residing Jordan, where he holds citizenship, after pledging in writing to freeze all of his political activities in the kingdom.
Meanwhile, the source said that Hamas hoped the new changes would put an end to the exile of the other three leaders: Mishaal, Sami Khater and Izzat Rishiq.
He said that negotiations between Hamas and Syria were underway so that Damascus wold host the group, with Moussa Abu Marzouq to replace Mishaal as its head.
Ten Palestinian opposition factions operate in Syria, including Hamas and Islamic Jihad, in addition to Fateh-Intifada.
© 2001 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
