Jordanian authorities arrest Hamas leaders

The Jordanian security authorities on Wednesday arrested the three wanted leaders of the Hamas movement, Khaled Mashaal, Mousa Abu Marzouk and Ibrahim Ghoushe, immediately upon their arrival at Queen Alia International Airport near Amman, coming from Tehran at 9 a.m. Wednesday morning.

The three Hamas leaders arrived in Amman in order to hold talks with the Jordanian authorities, especially following the closure of the movement's offices recently in Amman.

The chairman of the Jordanian Bar Association, Saleh al-Armouti, asked in a telephone call with the attorney general of the Jordanian state security to attend the investigations to be made into the two leaders of the Hamas movement Khaled Mashaal and Ibrahim Ghoushe, who were arrested by the Jordanian authorities earlier in the day.

Al-Armouti, who presides over the commission in defense of Hamas leaders, said in a statement on Wednesday that he will ask Mashaal and Ghoushe to sign a document that provides for defending them.

Meanwhile, Jordanian Minister of Information Ayman al-Majali said the Jordanian authorities decided to expel Mousa Abu Marzouk, one of the three Hamas leaders who were arrested with their escorts upon arriving in Amman.

In a statement he made on Wednesday, al-Majali added that Marzouk, who is currently being held in the airport, is waiting to choose the country he wishes to head for.