By Agencies

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Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal is in Jordan on his first official visit since he was forced to leave in 1999 for what authorities called "illicit and harmful" activities.

The trip on Sunday by Meshaal, who was accompanied by Qatar's crown prince, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, is seen as a rapprochement between the Jordanian monarchy and the Palestinian Islamist movement.

Jordan's King Abdullah II held talks with Meshaal, who is usually based in Damascus, and his five-member delegation of top Hamas officials including deputy chairman Mousa Abu Marzouk. Sheikh Tamim attended the talks as a mediator.

Meshaal, who has Jordanian nationality, was born in then Jordan-administered West Bank in 1956 and lived there with his family until they were forced to flee when Israel occupied the territory in 1967.

Relations between Hamas and Jordan have been strained since 1999, when the authorities expelled Meshaal and three other Hamas members.

'Historic visit'

A senior Jordanian official called it a "protocol visit," the AFP news agency reported. However, Jordan's Muslim Brotherhood, who are ideologically close to Hamas, is portraying Meshaal's visit as "historic."

"The meeting today (Sunday) is historic. Qatari mediation is supporting the palace's efforts to reformulate Jordan-Hamas relations in line with national interests," Jordan's Muslim Brotherhood said on its website.

Sami Abu Zuhri, a Hamas spokesman in Gaza told the AFP on Tuesday that the visit aims to "boost political cooperation, reorganise ties with Jordan and study the means to open a Hamas office in Amman."

"The trip is also aimed at facing Israeli schemes to abolish Palestinian refugees' right of return and turn Jordan into a substitute homeland for Palestinians," Abu Zuhri said.

Meshaal survived a 1997 assassination attempt in Amman by two agents by the Israeli intelligence service Mossad who tried to poison him outside his office.