The head of the Hamas political bureau in Damascus Khaled Mashaal met with Jordan's King Abdullah II on Sunday . . . it was Mashaal’s first official visit to Jordan since he was expelled in 1999 . . . the visit was arranged by the Crown Prince of Qatar, Tamim bin Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani . . . Mashaal said his visit was intended to help create a “solid relationship” with Jordan, although he acknowledged that their relationship has "limits and ceilings" . . . Mashaal recently announced he does not plan to seek reelection in Hamas . . . Jordan is willing to restore ties with Hamas to a certain extent in order to maintain relations with the new Muslim Brotherhood dominated governments of Egypt, Tunisia, and Morocco and sees reopening relations with Hamas a way to remain influential in Israeli-Palestinian peace talks . . . Hamas would like to move its offices to Jordan from Syria in order to distance itself from the bloodshed of the Assad regime, however this is very unlikely in the near term because King Abdullah does not want to do anything that could jeopardize Jordan’s relationship with Fatah or anger Israel and the United States.