Jordan 'not offered benefits' to host Hamas

Jordan on Saturday denied reports that Qatar offered Amman incentives to host Hamas, the Jordanian daily Al-Ghad reported. Israeli media reported Thursday that Qatar had offered Jordan financial incentives and natural gas in exchange for allowing Hamas to reopen its offices in Amman. Jordanian government spokesman Rakan al-Majali told Al-Ghad that Jordan had not received any offers from Qatar. Jordan was considering looking to other countries for natural gas following repeated disruptions to its supply lines from Egypt, al-Majali said. Saboteurs attacked Egyptian pipelines supplying gas to Israel and Jordan 10 times in 2011. Al-Majali said Jordan may seek gas from Qatar and Iraq, but said arrangements would be technical and not political. He noted that Jordan had previously worked to create a center in Aqaba to receive gas from Qatar and supply it to the entire region. The spokesman said Jordan was expecting visits from Hamas chief Khalid Mashaal and Qatari heir apparent Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani, but the meetings were not related to reopening Hamas' office in Amman. Hamas chief Khalid Mashaal on Sunday dismissed speculation that the party would leave its politburo on Damascus over the Syrian government's brutal crackdown on opposition protests. "What media outlets are disseminating about Hamas leaving Damascus isn't true," Mashaal told the Dubai-based Al-Arabiya news channel. "Some individual Hamas people have indeed left Damascus with their families, but that was for social reasons related to schooling for their children and nothing political," he added. Hamas relocated its politburo to Damascus after Jordan expelled Hamas leaders, including Mashaal, in 1999.