AMMAN, August 6, 2008 (AFP) - Jordan's intelligence chief Mohammed Dahabi and Hamas politburo member Mohammed Nazzal held secret talks in Amman last month, a leading Islamist said on Wednesday.

'Dahabi and (Syria-based) Nazzal met for talks in Amman two weeks ago,' Zaki Bani Rsheid, secretary general of the key opposition Islamic Action Front (IAF) party, told AFP.

Bani Rsheid refused to give details about the meeting while government officials said they had no information about the alleged secret talks.

Relations between Hamas and Jordan have been rocky since 1999, when the Jordanian authorities expelled Hamas supremo Khaled Meshaal and three other members of the Palestinian Islamist movement after a crackdown on the group.

An arrest warrant had also been issued against Nazzal but he had gone into hiding.

At the time Hamas was accused of threatening Jordan's security and stability.

Relations between Jordan and Hamas soured in 2006 after Amman accused members of the group of having smuggled arms into the kingdom from neighbouring Syria.

In June three suspected Hamas members were jailed for plotting attacks in Jordan. Five other Jordanians suspected of belonging to the movement are currently on trial over charges of gathering information on behalf of Hamas.

Amman had offered at the end of 2006 to host reconcilitation talks between Hamas and Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas.

Jordan has been bound by a peace treaty with Israel since 1994 while Hamas refuses to recognise the Jewish state.

The IAF is the political arm of Jordan's Muslim Brotherhood and has traditionally good ties with Hamas.