Hamas Denies Storing Weapons in Jordan

Palestinian officials have criticized Jordan's decision to cancel the visit of Foreign Minister Mahmoud Zahhar to Amman. The trip was postponed indefinitely after the discovery of arms and explosives apparently smuggled into Jordan by Hamas members.

Government spokesman Nasser Joudeh said that "rocket launchers, explosives and automatic weapons had been seized recently by Jordanian security forces from a Hamas arms cache they discovered on Jordanian soil."

"These activities contradict the positive commitments by the new Palestinian government not to use the Jordanian arena for any purposes that harm Jordan's security or for meddling in its internal affairs," Joudeh added.

Palestinian Foreign Minister Mahmoud al-Zahar was part of an Arab tour designed to gain funding and to make Western powers stop the efforts to isolate the financially stricken Palestinian government.

Jordanian officials support these efforts led by the United States to isolate the Hamas government diplomatically and financially if it will not take part in peace talks.

The Jordanian government also suggested that Hamas activists had planned sabotage on Jordanian soil, accusing its members of undertaking "surveillance activities for several vital targets in Amman and other cities."

Israel also decided to revoke Hamas officials' residency rights in the city responding to the suicide bombing in Tel Aviv on Monday, carried out by the Islamic Jihad militant group and defended by Hamas.