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Sep. 5, 2004 17:20 | Updated Sep. 5, 2004 23:55
Reports: Hamas leaders in Syria go underground
By KHALED ABU TOAMEH

Hamas leaders and top activists based in Damascus have left Syria for fear that Israel would target them in retaliation for last week's double suicide bombings in Beersheba.

The London-based pan Arab newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat quoted Arab diplomatic sources in the Jordanian capital of Amman as saying that some of the Hamas officials moved to a secret location in Lebanon, where they are being looked after by Hizbullah. The others have moved to Qatar, the sources added.

Hamas officials in the Gaza Strip on Sunday refused to comment on the report.

The newspaper quoted Syrian sources as saying that Hamas had halted its activities in Damascus several months ago. "Hamas does not have any activities in Damascus," they added. "In addition, Hamas's media office in Damascus has been closed for several months."

The Syrian authorities claim that Hamas and other radical Palestinian groups have halted their activities in the country and are only maintaining "press offices." At least 10 different Palestinian groups are based in Syria, where they run military training camps and prisons.

According to the report, Egypt turned down a request from Hamas to allow Musa Abu Marzuk, the movement's deputy political bureau chief who holds an Egyptian passport, to move to Cairo or Al-Arish near the border with the Gaza Strip.

According to an Arabic language news web site, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon recently threatened to bomb the Iranian embassy in Damascus where Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal is believed to have found sanctuary.

Al-Arabia Net claimed that Sharon told an Arab official who recently visited Tel Aviv that Israel is determined to eliminate the Hamas leadership in Syria and Lebanon. Although the Web site did not refer to the Arab official by name, it is widely believed that the Arab official is Egyptian Intelligence Chief Omar Suleiman.

The Arab official reportedly told Sharon that the Arab countries are strongly opposed to the targeting of any Palestinian leader abroad, including Mashaal, who hold a Jordanian passport.

Mashaal was deported from Jordan several years ago and has since been living in Qatar and Syria. The Jordanians have conditioned his return with his resignation from the movement.

Most of the Hamas leaders in Syria and Lebanon have gone underground and are taking extra precautionary measures for fear of Israeli retaliation. In the Gaza Strip, the movement's top officials Mahmoud Zahar and Ismail Haniyeh remain in hiding since the killing of Hamas leaders Ahmed Yassin and Abdel Aziz Rantisi earlier this year.