King Hussein condemns Mossad attack

AMMAN, Oct 6: Jordan's King Hussein yesterday condemned the assassination attempt on a Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) leader in Amman,...

AMMAN, Oct 6: Jordan’s King Hussein yesterday condemned the assassination attempt on a Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) leader in Amman, linked to the Israeli secret service, as a “reckless act”.

In an interview with the Arab language daily Al-Hayat, the King said, “I cannot figure out what the Israeli Prime Minister (Benjamin Netanyahu) thinks, and that worries me”.

He termed the assassination attempt, 10 days ago, on Khaled Meshaal of the Hamas a “reckless” gesture by a “party which does not believe in peace”.King Hussein stopped short of implicating Israel directly in the September 25 attack on an Amman street. He said “there is no tangible proof” that Israel was behind the the daylight attempt to poison Meshaal.

Story continues below this ad

But the King, long Israel’s closest ally in the Arab world, harshly criticized the attitude of Netanyahu towards the Middle East peace process.He said that while he has heard Netanyahu often express “his desire to advance the peace process, what he leads us to expect has not materialized”.

After the assassination attempt by suspected members of Israel’s Mossad secret service, an angry King Hussein reportedly responded by threatening to break diplomatic ties with Israel.

He also successfully demanded as a peace offering the release of Hamas’s spiritual leader, Sheikh Ahmad Yassin, from an Israeli prison.

Hamas, Palestinian Authority and Jordanian officials said on Sunday that the ailing Yassin, who was released into Jordan by Israel five days ago, will leave Amman for Gaza City on Monday.