Amman - Osama Al Rantissi
Thousand of Jordanians on Saturday attended the funeral of Dr Umar Al Ashqar who passed away on Friday. Prominent among attendees was chairman of the political bureau of Hamas, Khaled Meshaal, vice chairman Mousa Abu Marzook, members of the bureau Sami Khater, Izzat al Rishq, Mohammed Nazal, Mohammad Nasr and the Comptroller General of the Muslim Brotherhood in Jordan, Dr Hammam Saeed and other Islamic leaders. The funeral was held in Tel Roman cemetary on Jerash road opposite Philadelphia University. Palestinian resistance movement Hamas had announced the death of al Ashqar in a statement saying “he was one of the great founders of the movement, one of the most prominent scholars of Palestine and the Arabic and Islamic nation in this era, one of the scholars and sheikhs of the Hamas movement and its founders.” Hamas said Ashqar died “after a life full of giving, sacrifice, education, work and calling to Allah... he has dedicated it to defend our Palestinian people, their cause and their rights, supporting the resistance and jihad and defending our Arab and Isalmic nation\'s causes.” This is the third visit by Meshaal to the Jordanian capital in less than a year.