Hamas has denied accusations by Jordan that the group had stored weapons on its territory, saying it regrets Amman's cancellation of a visit by the Palestinian foreign minister.

The group's spokesman, Sami Abu Zuhri, on Wednesday said: "These accusations are false and completely contradict the well-known Hamas attitude that it does not intervene ... in the internal affairs of other countries."

A day earlier, a Jordanian government spokesman said security forces had seized rocket launchers and other weapons from a Hamas arms cache.

The Islamist faction, which is sworn to Israel's destruction and took over the Palestinian government on March 29 after winning January elections, was also accused of using Jordan to engage in anti-Israeli activities.

A visit by the new Palestinian foreign minister and senior Hamas leader, Mahmoud al-Zahar, was scrapped as a result.

"We regret the way the Jordanian government used (this) to justify the cancellation of the visit by Palestinian Foreign Minister Mahmoud al-Zahar at the last moment," Abu Zuhri said.

The Palestinian deputy prime minister, Nasser al-Shaer, also from Hamas, said the new government was not involved.

"We have no information about this incident and we are certain the brethren in Jordan will find out the Palestinians are not involved in such acts," Shaer told Reuters.

Fund-raising tour

Al-Zahar is touring Arab states to urgently try to raise funds after the US and several countries, mostly Western, suspended direct aid, saying Hamas must renounce violence and recognise Israel and past interim peace deals.

Jordan signed a peace treaty with Israel in 1994 and has helped mediate some of its negotiations with the Palestinians.

Al-Zahar's visit to Jordan would have been the first by a top Hamas leader since the nation expelled the group's leadership in 1999.

Hamas' politburo now has its headquarters in Damascus.

Jordanian officials privately support US-led efforts to isolate the Hamas government unless it embraces Middle East peacemaking.

Al-Zahar's first stop late last week was Egypt, which is the only other Arab country to have a peace treaty with Israel, but he was unable to meet its foreign minister, who was out of Cairo at the time.

Hamas has a large following in Palestinian camps across Jordan. Much of Jordan's population is of Palestinian origin.

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