AMMAN, Jordan (AP):Jordan's powerful Islamic opposition has expressed hope that the country's decision to allow Hamas' exiled leader to return for his father's funeral could improve strained ties with the militant Palestinian group.

The government has said Khaled Mashaal, who Jordan expelled 10 years ago, was given a visa for yesterday's funeral solely on humanitarian grounds.

But Ali Abu Sukkar, a member of Jordan's Islamic Action Front, expressed hope the "positive step" could have broader political ramifications. Sukkar was one of hundreds of mainly Islamist mourners who attended the funeral in Amman, where Mashaal's father died on Friday.

Mashaal was deported along with other leaders in a 1999 crackdown on Palestinian militants in response to international pressure.