Jordan's King Abdullah II has made two significant departures from the policies of his late father, King Hussein this week. On Monday, the authorities took action against the Islamists who had been staunch supporters of the king from 1957 until his death last February. Meanwhile, the Prime Minister, Mr Abdel-Rauf Rawabdeh, moved to cede Jordanian guardianship of holy sites in Jerusalem to the Palestinians. The police closed the offices of the Palestinian Islamic Hamas movement in Amman, rounded up 12 of its members and issued warrants for four leaders who are outside the kingdom.
The interior ministry said it shut the offices because they were not operating as business outlets in accordance with their licences. The four leaders who escaped arrest were Hamas spokesman Mr Ibrahim Ghosheh, politburo chief Mr Kahled Masha'al, Jordanian representative Mr Muhammad Nazzal, and Mr Mousa Abu Marzouk, a former politburo head. A magazine published by Hamas was also closed.
The first three figures are Jordanian nationals. Mr Masha'al owes his life to King Hussein, who demanded Israel provide an antidote to poison administered in a 1996 assassination attempt by the Israeli intelligence agency, Mossad.
Mr Abu Marzouk, a Yemeni citizen detained by the US, was freed when King Hussein intervened.
The move is certain to alienate the Jordanian Muslim Brotherhood, which is affiliated to Hamas and is the largest party in parliament. A Hamas spokesman in Gaza, Mr Mahmoud al-Zahar, said the arrests would not "affect the activities of Hamas. The strength and body of the group is in Palestine."
The Prime Minister also announced that Jordan was prepared to hand over its guardianship over Muslim Holy sites in Jerusalem to the Palestine Authority. This is a renunciation of Jordan's 49-year custodianship of the magnificent Dome of the Rock, and the historic Aqsa Mosque.
King Hussein was deeply bound to these Muslim sanctuaries after he witnessed the assassination of his grandfather, King Abdullah I, in Jerusalem in 1951.
