AMMAN, Jordan (AP) — Jordan has detained more than 20 Hamas activists for smuggling arms from Syria, a government spokesman said Wednesday, revealing for the first time the number of Palestinians arrested since the cache was uncovered. Government spokesman Nasser Judeh accused the activists of plotting to destabilize the kingdom. He spoke as a Palestinian security delegation, headed by Maj. Gen. Tareq Abu Rajab, the head of Palestinian General Intelligence, began a two-day visit to Jordan to investigate the evidence against the Hamas militants. Judeh said the arrests took place three weeks ago, when the police seized the weapons, including missiles and rockets, that Hamas members had stockpiled in various parts of the country. Source: [Yahoo news]

So the Hamas issue continues to snowball while the number of skeptics keeps growing. From conversations I’ve had with a number of Jordanian and Arab nationals (both online and offline), very few seem to fully believe the Jordanian government’s version of the story. The Hamas debacle has clearly revealed that many Jordanians think twice before putting their full trust in the Jordanian government. I really think the government needs to work on improving its credibility amongst Jordanians. For reasons I don’t want to get into now, it appears conspiracy theories are here to stay.