Hamas official investigated for ‘irregularities’

A senior member of Palestinian movement Hamas is under investigation by the group’s authorities over unspecified “irregularities,” according to Agence France-Presse.

Ayman Taha, who served as a spokesman for Hamas, is being investigated.

Senior Hamas member Ahmad Bahar told al-Ghad al-Arabi, a pan-Arab broadcaster based in London, that Taha is being investigated but did not specify the reason behind the inquiry.

“With regard to Ayman Taha there are some irregularities and the brothers are investigating and he will be held accountable like any other ordinary citizen,”
Bahar said.

An official in Bahar’s office confirmed to AFP the remarks made by the senior Hamas official, but did not provide further details on the allegations or the state of the investigation.

In a videotaped statement posted on social media, Hassan Mohammed Taha, Ayman’s brother, condemned rumors of allegations as “libel and slander,” saying his brother had “perhaps made mistakes, but not to the extent of the rumors.”

He did not say whether his brother had been detained or not.

Other Palestinian sources said Taha had gone missing two weeks ago. Hamas has declined to comment on that allegation.

The matter could potentially tarnish the standing of the Islamist group, which won a landslide victory in Palestinian elections in 2006 largely because of its reputation for honesty and incorruptibility.

(With AFP)