Hamas leader will remain in Doha, suspend activities: group official
Hamas officials deny reports that the group's leader has relocated to Turkey
Kifah Ziboun Asharq Al-Awsat 7 Jan, 2015
http://www.aawsat.net/2015/01/article55340169

Ramallah, Asharq Al-Awsat—A senior member of Hamas denied that Doha has
asked the group’s leader Khaled Mishal to leave the small Gulf state, but
admitted on Tuesday that the Qatari government had “shifted its political
orientation” towards the group.

Speaking to Asharq Al-Awsat on the condition of anonymity, a leading Hamas
member said: “Hamas was asked at least not to engage in any high-profile
political activities that may be interpreted as Qatar still supporting the
Muslim Brotherhood, particularly after the Egyptian–Qatari reconciliation.”

The group’s denials follow reports that its exiled leader had been asked to
leave Qatar on Tuesday, with unconfirmed reports saying Mishal has relocated
to Turkey, a staunch backer of Hamas and its parent group, the Muslim
Brotherhood in Egypt.

Speculation has grown over the potential expulsion of Hamas from Doha after
the recent rapprochement between Egypt and Qatar. Ties between the two
countries have deteriorated recently over claims that the Gulf state is
backing the Brotherhood, which was removed from power by the Egyptian
military in mid-2013 following mass public protests.

Qatar was also accused by Egypt and fellow Gulf states of hosting Hamas
members who had strong links with Egypt’s former Islamist rulers. In
response to pressure from Gulf Cooperation Council members, Doha expelled
seven members of Brotherhood in September last year, and is expected to
impose new controls on members of the organization still in the country,
according to some observers.

In comments to Asharq Al-Awsat, a leading Hamas figure in Doha, Hossam
Badran, dismissed reports that Mishal had left Qatar. He said: “We will stay
in Doha and there will be no changes” to the group’s political
representation in the Gulf state.

In contrast, the Israeli foreign ministry said in a statement on Tuesday it
“welcomes Qatar’s decision to expel the head of the Hamas Political Bureau,
Khaled Mishal, to Turkey,” claiming the step came after heavy diplomatic
pressure from Tel Aviv.

CNN quoted on Tuesday a source from what it said was a Hamas-run news agency
saying that Mishal and other Islamist leaders were on their way to Turkey.

According to analysts, if the reports are accurate Hamas will likely have to
choose between between Tehran, Ankara and Khartoum, the remaining regional
capitals that still maintain strong links to the group, as its new home.
Ankara remains the most likely destination for Hamas’s leader for several
reasons, including the differences in views between Hamas’s leadership and
Tehran over Syria and the nature of the conflict between the region’s Sunnis
and Shi’ites, among others.

Mishal was forced to relocate from his previous base, Damascus, in February
2012, as the Syrian crisis deteriorated and Hamas became increasingly
disenchanted with the response of the Syrian government to the uprising
against President Bashar Al-Assad.

Mirza Al-Khuwaylidi contributed reporting from Dammam