Similarly, Qatari officials have said that the deportees will not be allowed to resume their political activities. Jordanian officials had accused Hamas of engaging in illegal activities, including the possession of firearms and inciting hardline Islamist sentiment among the Jordanian opposition. On arrival in Qatar, Khaled Mashal immediately said that he and his colleagues would be appealing against the expulsion. Our Middle East correspondent, Jim Muir, there may be grounds for appeal against the expulsions. Under the Jordanian constitution, the state cannot deport its own citizens.
Jordanian officials maintain that the men left willingly as part a deal agreed with Qatar.
According to agency reports, the Palestinian communications minister, Imad Faluji, has invited Hamas to move its political offices from Jordan to the Palestinian autonomous territories. I suggest that the brothers of Hamas move their offices to Palestine. The offer may be disingenuous. Since the signing of the Israeli-Palestinian Oslo peace accords in 1993, Hamas has been the only serious political opposition to the Palestinian National Authority. Israel, which has so far issued no formal reaction to the expulsions, would certainly strongly oppose the relocation of Hamas's offices to Palestinian administered areas.