Jordanian Islamists "understand" Hamas pretext for Gaza takeover

Jun 19, 2007, 10:47 GMT

Amman - Jordan's largest political party, the Islamic Action Front (IAF), said Tuesday that it 'understood' the pretexts cited by the Hamas movement for its takeover of the Gaza Strip.

However in a statement the IAF, the political arm of the Muslim Brotherhood movement in Jordan, said that it 'rejected the geographical and political partition of the Palestinian people,' a reference to the existence of separate administrations in Gaza and the West Bank.

'We understand the justifications which forced the Islamic movement (Hamas) to take such a step in order to deal with the state of anarchy that thwarted any progress in the Palestinian national project,' the IAF said.

Since its victory in January 2006 elections 'Hamas has been the target for international and regional attempts that sought to confiscate the will of the Palestinian people,' it added in a reference to the Western financial and diplomatic boycott of the Hamas government over the past 18 months.

Western governments had withheld aid to Hamas over the militant Islamist movement's refusal to disavow violence, recognize Israel and agree to abide by past peace treaties.

The IAF urged the Jordanian government to take 'a neutral attitude towards all Palestinian factions and show due respect to the Palestinian people's democratic choice.'

The Jordanian government, which boycotted Hamas since it emerged triumphant in polls last year, has renewed its backing for President Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah following after Hamas' takeover of the Gaza Strip.

Jordanian Prime Minister Marouf Bakhit called his new Palestinian counterpart Salam Fayyad on Monday to wish the emergency cabinet 'success in carrying out its duties.'