Jordan court refuses to hear Hamas leader

AMMAN, Jordan, March 21 (UPI) -- Jordan's State Security Court rejected Wednesday a defense request to hear the testimony of Hamas political leader Khaled Mishaal in a security case.

The court also turned down a defense request to summon Jordanian Prime Minister Maarouf al-Bakhit and government spokesman Nasser Judeh to testify in a trial against three defendants accused of smuggling and storing weapons for Hamas in Jordan.

The tribunal said Mishaal and the two Jordanian officials have nothing to do with the case and the charges are made against the defendants individually, "regardless of their affiliation to any organization, Hamas or otherwise."

The Jordanian government in 1999 deported Mishaal, who carries a Jordanian nationality, and other Hamas officials for belonging to a non-Jordanian organization, despite protests that the expulsion violates the constitution which bans the deportation of citizens from their country. Since then, Mishaal has remained in Qatar and Syria, refusing to return to avoid arrest or abandoning his membership in the Palestinian Islamic group.

The authorities in May said they aborted a Hamas plot and seized weapons allegedly smuggled from Syria and stored in Jordan. Three men are being tried by the military tribunal on charges of conspiracy to carry out terrorist acts and possessing illegal weapons and explosives.