AMMAN, Jordan, April 20 (UPI) -- Jordanian Islamists quoted Prime Minister Maaruf Bakheet as saying that Hamas has smuggled arms into the kingdom through Syria.
Azzam Huneidi, head of the Islamic Action Front's bloc in parliament, told United Press International Thursday that Bakheet relayed the information to the bloc's 17 members at a meeting late Wednesday.
"Hamas smuggled the weapons to Jordan from Syria, this is exactly what he told us word by word," Huneidi said.
Government spokesman Nasser Jawdeh said Tuesday that security forces had foiled plans by Hamas to attack Jordan, while discovering that the militant group has been stocking up arms on Jordanian territory and monitoring vital targets.
The Islamic Action Front, the political façade of Jordan's Muslim Brotherhood, cast doubt on the official story charging that it was aimed at canceling a visit by the foreign minister of the Hamas-led Palestinian government, Mahmoud Zahhar, to Jordan that was scheduled for Wednesday.
Huneidi said Bakheet informed the Islamist legislators that the latest attempt was the third by Hamas to smuggle weapons into Jordan.
He said the prime minister told them the discovery of the arms "constituted a great shock for Jordan especially that it came at a time the Jordanian government showed positive inclination to deal and establish good relations with the Palestinian government that was formed by Hamas."
The announcement made on the eve of Zahhar's visit to Jordan raised doubts that it was aimed at canceling or delaying the visit to spare Amman embarrassment with the international community, which is boycotting the Hamas government.
Hamas denied the Jordanian accusations. Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh ordered an investigation and reaffirmed Hamas' keenness to have good relations with Jordan.
